Reversals
by MegTDJ
Summary: An accident in the lab has drastic consequences for Janet, leaving Daniel feeling fully responsible. DanJan
1. Chapter 1

Title: Reversals  
Author: MegTDJ  
Category: Angst/drama; hurt/comfort  
Rating: PG-13  
Pairing: Daniel/Janet  
Spoilers: Up to and including season 5's Summit/Last Stand  
Archive: DanandJan, D/J Challenge, Gateview,  
Summary: An accident in the lab has drastic consequences for Janet, leaving Daniel feeling fully responsible.  
Disclaimer: Stargate SG-1, its universe and its characters are not mine. The story itself is, however, so please don't archive without my permission.  
Warning: Kid!Fic. Read at your own risk. ;)

Author's notes: The plot for this fic was inspired by one of Tiv's challenges on Our Stargate - _Can't have enough kid fics. :) What if Hammond is turned into a kid? Janet? Siler? Davis? Brata'c? Kasuf?_ Thanks for the bunny, Tiv!

Many thanks to Kerri, Misty, Julie, Chrysa, Jammer, Isabelle, Cait, and the rest of you zany Gateview chatters. You're the wind beneath my wings. I love you all bunches.

xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxox

**Reversals - Chapter 1**

"How's it coming, Janet?"

Janet sighed and looked up from her microscope to see Sam entering the lab. "Well, I haven't discovered that this powder holds the key to eternal youth, if that's what you're asking," she said in a somewhat snarky tone. "I don't know what the people of P4... whatever think this is, but it's just plain old talcum powder from what I can see."

Sam grinned. "Really? So, if I go and snuff some talcum powder, it'll take away my wrinkles?"

Janet gave her a wry smile. "Hardly," she said. "To be honest, I really don't think this is what's causing these people to live twice as long as us. It could be something in their food, their water, or even the atmosphere of the planet." She shrugged. "Then again, I'm not a scientist. I'm looking at this from a strictly medical point of view, but still... I just don't see how this could be the 'fountain of youth' drug these people claim it to be."

"Maybe it just makes them high enough to _think_ they're getting younger."

Janet laughed. "I think that's more likely, yes," she said, turning back to her work.

"Well, keep at it," Sam said. "From what Daniel could gather, these people use this stuff for just about everything. They even apply it to wounds, and say they heal in half the time."

"Wouldn't that be nice," Janet murmured. She looked up at Sam again as a sudden thought occurred to her. "Hey, where is Daniel, anyway?" she asked. "I haven't seen him since you guys got back, and he was supposed to be here helping me with this."

"I'm here!" Daniel said as he hurried into the room. "I'm here. Sorry, I was... caught up in something else." He made an apologetic face and sat down on the stool beside her. "So... what do you need me to do?"

Sam smiled and shook her head over Daniel's grand entrance. "I've got to go, but I'll see you guys later," she said as she made her way to the door.

"Okay, Sam," Janet called after her. "See you later."

As Sam left, Janet took a moment to study Daniel's rather unkempt appearance. He seemed distracted, his hair was a mess, and his clothes were rumpled - all of which were very unusual for Dr. Daniel Jackson.

Daniel looked over at her as she did so and seemed somewhat uncomfortable under her scrutinizing gaze. "What?"

"What was it that you got 'caught up in,' exactly?" she asked.

Daniel's mouth opened and closed a few times as he tried to think of an answer, but finally he shot her a sheepish look and said, "I... fell asleep at my desk."

Janet sighed. "Again? Daniel, I told you to come to me if your insomnia persisted..."

"But the insomnia is gone," he argued. "Now it's more of a... fall-asleep-at-the-worst-possible-time kind of thing." At Janet's glare, he shrugged his shoulders and looked down at the notebooks and equipment scattered across the table. "So, what are we doing?" he asked in an obvious attempt at changing the subject.

Janet made a mental note to continue this discussion later, but allowed his diversionary tactic to work. "Notes, Daniel," she said. "Remember? I can't read them, and it's very important that I know all of the information we've been given about this drug."

"Right," Daniel said. He picked up one of the notebooks and started leafing through it.

"Daniel, are you okay?" Janet asked, concerned by his absentmindedness. She often found his scatterbrained tendencies endearing, but this time it was worrying her. "You seem... preoccupied."

"No, no, I'm fine," Daniel was quick to insist. "I'm just... tired."

Janet narrowed her eyes at him.

"From the mission," he added nervously. "I'm fine."

Janet nodded warily. "Okay," she said. "But on the safe side, don't overdo it."

"I won't. Which one of these notebooks do you need me to translate first?"

"Why don't I leave that up to your discretion?" she said. "I have no idea what any of it's about, so I really can't say. It's all Greek to me."

Daniel grinned at her. "It's all Greek to me, too," he joked.

"Yes, well, unlike me, you can actually _read_ Greek," she said with a smile. "I just need to know anything that may explain just what this drug _is_. So far all it seems to be is useless powder."

"Well, yes, that's because it is."

Janet's brow furrowed in confusion. "What?"

Daniel winced. "Oh... I forgot to tell you," he said. "This is just the main ingredient of the final product, so to speak. You have to add things to it in order to make the drug."

Janet could have smacked his ear on the spot. "Daniel! Why didn't you tell me? I've wasted all this time..."

"I know! I know! I'm sorry!" He started looking frantically through the notebook in his hands. "I don't know where my mind has been lately... ah, here it is. You add... oh boy."

Janet looked over his shoulder to see what had stopped him dead. "What is it?"

Daniel glanced over at her for a moment, though he seemed lost in thought. Then he snapped back to reality and quickly turned his attention back to the notebook. "Uh... they've given the base elements different names than we have," he said. "That makes sense, when you think about it, because they would have been discovered at different times by different people..."

"Yes? And?" Janet interrupted his babbling.

"And... it might take me a little while to figure out what the hell they're talking about," he said.

Janet sighed. "How long?"

"I have no idea," Daniel replied absently, already lost in his work.

Janet crossed her arms over her chest and sat back in her chair. She should have known it was going to take longer than she'd hoped.

During the long wait that followed, Janet took the opportunity to watch Daniel as he worked. It wasn't very often that she got to do that without him even noticing her attention. He really did look tired, she noted in sympathy. She knew he'd been having disturbing dreams ever since his inside look at a System Lord summit a few days earlier, and that had rapidly led to insomnia. She had figured it must be because he'd been so close to getting Sarah back, only to lose her again.

The thought of that made her want to scream. Daniel was her dearest friend, and she hated to see him hurting like this. _'Damn those Goa'ulds,'_ she thought to herself. _'If one of them was within my reach right now, I'd wring its snaky little neck for what its kind has done to Daniel.'_

"Penny for your thoughts."

Janet blinked, suddenly realizing that she had been staring at Daniel for much too long. She hadn't seen him look up, though, so surely he hadn't noticed? "Excuse me?"

The corners of Daniel's mouth curved upwards slightly, though he kept his gaze focused on the book in front of him. "You've been sitting there in complete silence for the past ten minutes," he said. "Just wondered what was on your mind."

Janet's brain froze for a moment. There was no way she was going to tell him that _he_ was on her mind, and she couldn't seem to think of anything else. "I... was just waiting for you to finish," she finally said. "Will you have the answer anytime soon? Because if you don't, I may as well go and do something else until you do."

Daniel looked over at her then, stricken. "I'm sorry," he said. "I'm doing the best I can, it just isn't easy."

"I know. I'm not trying to rush you..."

"No, no, you're right. I should have this done by now," Daniel said, starting to sound annoyed with himself. He went back to his work with renewed determination. So much so, in fact, that it was barely two seconds later when he said, "Aha! Here it is."

"Here what is?" Janet asked, looking over his shoulder again.

"What you need. Here, look." Daniel scooted his chair closer to hers and pointed to a row of symbols on the page. "Here's their table of elements. It's very similar to ours, only they used different names for each one. Now that I know the basis of their naming system, I can figure out what the ingredients are." He grinned at her. "Piece of cake."

Janet couldn't help but grin back. She knew he wouldn't let her down.

xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxox

Daniel yawned and leaned his head on his hand as he watched Janet carefully measure each chemical and slowly add it to the liquid mixture she was creating. His eyes were following her every move, and he was finding her gracefulness very soothing. He could feel his eyelids drooping more and more with each passing moment, and had to fight to keep himself from actually drifting off.

"What's next?"

He snapped back to attention at the sound of her voice, and quickly glanced down at the notebook on the desk. His vision was blurry, so for a second he thought he wasn't wearing his glasses. After a few heavy blinks, though, the haze disappeared and he narrowed his eyes as he tried to remember what it was he'd translated the next ingredient to be. "Uh... sodium hydroxide," he said.

"Are you sure?" Janet asked as she reached for it.

"Yep." Daniel resumed his former position with his head on his hand, and watched Janet closely as she began to drop the pellets into the mixture.

If he wasn't fully awake then, he certainly was when the mixture started to bubble and sizzle and release a rather menacing cloud of gas. "Janet?" he cried.

"I don't know what's happening," she said. "I did everything just as you said..."

Before she could say more, there was a loud popping sound, and the liquid seemed to fly right out of the beaker to land on every available surface in its path - mainly Janet.

Daniel snatched the notebooks off of the desk and grabbed Janet around the waist to pull her out of harm's way. "We need some help in here!" he called towards the door. Then he turned his attention back onto Janet. "Are you okay?" he asked fearfully, spinning her around to check her over for burns or any other serious side effects of her exposure to the explosive chemical. She was dripping wet with the stuff, and that was probably not a good thing.

"I'm fine," she replied as she panted for breath. "That was... interesting."

"I'll say." He turned toward the door as several doctors and scientists rushed in.

"What happened?" one of them asked.

"I don't know," Janet replied. "I was working on the compound and it just... exploded."

A knot of worry was quickly forming in Daniel's stomach as he tried to pull Janet over to the doorway. "Come on, let's get this stuff off of you," he said.

"No, I should help clean up this mess..."

"Janet, you've just been covered in an unknown chemical," he said firmly. "You need to get checked out."

"He's right, ma'am," another of the scientists said. "We can take over from here."

Thankfully, Janet didn't argue further, and allowed Daniel to escort her to the medical bay.

Daniel had to wait outside while Dr. Brightman examined her, so he took the opportunity to look over the notes one more time. He knew he hadn't missed anything or added anything to the mixture that would cause it to react so badly... or had he?

"Oh God," he breathed as his mistake leapt off the page and smacked him between the eyes. "Potassium hydroxide, not sodium! Dammit, why didn't I pay closer attention during chemistry?"

The two chemicals were very similar in composition, and both quite harmless on their own, but mixed with the other ingredients of this drug... Daniel kicked himself for his negligence. He could only hope that Janet would suffer no ill effects from her exposure.

"Well, she doesn't seem to be suffering any ill effects from her exposure," a female voice suddenly echoed his thoughts.

Daniel snapped the notebook shut and jumped to his feet. "That's great," he said. "Can I see her?"

Dr. Brightman nodded. "I don't see why not. I've told her to stick around on the base for the next twenty four hours just to be on the safe side, but other than that, she's free to go."

Daniel breathed a sigh of relief and entered the medical bay. "Hey," he said as he saw Janet standing by one of the infirmary beds putting on a fresh lab coat. "I hear you're doing okay."

"Yes," she said, beaming a sunny smile at him. "I feel fine. I really don't think it's harmful, and it didn't burn my skin or anything. Actually... I feel better than I've felt in years. I think there's something to this 'fountain of youth' thing after all."

Daniel grinned. "Well... you look good."

A look of surprise flashed across Janet's face at this innocent comment, but was soon replaced with a sly smile. "Oh?"

Daniel suddenly realized what he'd said, and he could feel his face begin to flush. "I... I mean... you look okay," he stammered. "You're... you're not... you know what I mean," he finished in exasperation.

Janet laughed. "Thank you, Daniel, I appreciate the compliment," she said as she walked past him toward the door.

Daniel shook his head and tried not to laugh. Her teasing wasn't a rare thing, but he always fell for it. "Where are you going?" he asked as he fell into step beside her.

"I thought I'd go back to the lab and see what's going on," she said. "I really need to figure out what I did wrong."

Daniel slowed down and took hold of her arm so she would do the same. Janet turned her face up to him as they came to a stop, and when he looked into her questioning brown eyes, he had to work up all of his courage before he could speak. "I... it... was my fault," he finally said. "I misinterpreted one of the chemical names..."

"What? Daniel..."

"I know, I know, I just... wasn't paying attention," he said, lowering his head in shame. "I read 'sodium hydroxide' instead of 'potassium hydroxide.' There isn't much of a difference between them, but I guess in this case..." His voice trailed off, and he shrugged. "I'm really sorry."

Janet sighed. "Well, at least now we know," she said. "So, next time we try this, it should work... and not explode."

"One would hope," Daniel said, forcing a smile.

"Thanks," Janet said as she started to walk on again. "See you later."

Daniel cursed his stupidity again as he watched her walk away. Those damn nightmares of his... if he'd just been able to sleep in an actual bed for longer than five minutes at a time over the past week, this wouldn't have happened. He hated letting Janet down - perhaps a little more than he could explain away to himself. He knew she had already forgiven him, but he also knew that he'd feel guilty as hell for days and somehow have to make it up to her before he could stand himself again.

For the moment, however, he felt it would be wisest to leave her and her research alone. She didn't need him around to mess things up even more, after all. _'If I'm so tired, I should just go to bed,'_ he thought miserably.

He went straight to his on-base quarters, got undressed, and got into bed. He had high hopes that he was finally exhausted enough to just pass out and sleep the night away, but he was soon disappointed. He just lay there staring at the ceiling.

"Great," he muttered after a couple of hours of tossing and turning, "I guess I should have picked up something to knock me out after all. God, why can't I just _sleep_?"

He threw back the covers in frustration and got up again. After sloppily putting on his pants and over-shirt, he left the room and marched off to the commissary. If he wasn't going to sleep, he might as well be drinking coffee. It was only logical.

After downing two cups of the brew, he was wired and bored, which wasn't a very good combination. He stopped by the lab in case Janet was still there, but the room was dark and empty. He went looking for Sam, but she was nowhere to be found. He decided against disturbing Teal'c out of his kel'nor'eem, and went instead to his office, where he promptly fell asleep at his desk.

"Crap," he muttered as he woke up hours later with a crick in his neck. "I've really gotta stop doing this."

His first thought then was of Janet. He glanced at his watch and saw that it was still very early, but his restless dreams all night had been of her and the many disastrous results that could have come about through his carelessness. Some of them had seemed so real that he was left with the nagging feeling that something was terribly wrong. He had to see her just to put his mind at rest, no matter what the time was.

As he made his way to her quarters, the feeling of unease started to grow rather than fade away. He tapped his foot impatiently as the elevator seemed to take its own sweet time getting to the floor he wanted, and as he stepped out into the hall, he suddenly had the overwhelming urge to run straight to her door without wasting another second. He settled for a brisk walk.

When he arrived at his destination and raised his hand to knock, he paused mid-motion as it occurred to him that she might be angry with him for waking her so early. He had no real reason for doing so, after all. The whole 'I had a bad dream and needed to make sure it wasn't real' excuse probably wouldn't fly. But even so, he had to know. He had to see for himself that she was okay.

Before he could rethink his decision, he knocked.

And waited.

Knocked again.

His anxiety started to turn into fear, as he still heard no answer. "Janet?" he called. He strained his ears to hear a response, but still there was nothing.

He reached for the door handle, but again he hesitated. What if she wasn't decent? He couldn't just go waltzing in there uninvited. Still, if she was in trouble...

A sudden cry coming from the other side of the door made the decision for him. He burst into the room at lightning speed... and then stopped dead in his tracks.

There was someone in the bed, but it wasn't Janet. The frightened form that was cowering there with its head buried in the pillow wasn't Janet. Couldn't be Janet. It was... it was a _child_.

Well, whoever it was, he couldn't just leave her there, shaking and crying and obviously greatly distressed. "Hey, it's okay," he said, stepping farther into the room to stand beside the bed. "Don't cry... I won't hurt you."

He squatted down beside her and reached out a hand to rest on her trembling back. As soon as he did so, she flinched and squirmed away from him. With another frightened cry, she lifted her head off of the pillow and turned her wide, brown eyes onto his face.

Those eyes... Daniel knew those eyes...

"Oh my God!" he exclaimed in horror. "Janet?!"

To be continued...


	2. Chapter 2

**Reversals - Chapter 2**

Daniel's mind seemed to shut down for a moment after he looked into those eyes. He couldn't compute the information he was receiving - Janet couldn't have become a child overnight. It was impossible... wasn't it?

The thought of what had happened to Linea during another lab accident a few years earlier only crossed his mind after he'd summoned help and was trying to figure out what to do next. The drug she had tried to create had turned an entire planet full of middle-aged people into young adults. So... not impossible. Bizarre and terrifying as hell, but not impossible. Somehow that didn't make him feel any better.

The child was still curled up in a tight ball on the bed, crying and shaking and obviously scared out of her mind. Daniel could tell from this that Janet obviously had no idea where she was, who he was, or what had happened to her. Whether she had lost her memory entirely like Linea had or had just lost her memories of being an adult, he couldn't yet tell.

"It's okay, sweetie," he said, trying to inch a little closer to her without frightening her even more. "No one's going to hurt you, okay? I know you're scared, but you can trust me. It's okay."

She peeked out at him over her arms, but then she ducked her head back under when she saw him looking right at her. "Where's Mommy?" she whimpered.

Daniel's heart broke. So she did have memory of being a child. In some ways that was good, but in others...

He looked up as he heard someone entering the room.

"Oh my God," Sam whispered as she took in the scene before her. "What... who..."

"It's Janet."

Sam just stared at him in shock. Daniel knew the feeling.

"I want Mommy!" the child suddenly cried. She seemed to be heading into a full-scale panic.

Before he could think twice, Daniel sat down on the bed and gathered the frightened child into his arms. She tried to get away from him, but he held onto her tight until she finally went limp and sobbed into his shirt. "It's okay," he murmured into her hair. "Mommy's not far away, okay? She asked us to look after you for a little while. Shhh, it's okay."

"Daniel, what the hell happened?" Sam asked when her voice finally returned.

"I don't know," Daniel snapped, though he kept his voice low so that he wouldn't startle the young Janet. "I was hoping you could tell _me_. How can someone go to sleep a full grown adult and wake up a child?"

Sam shook her head in disbelief as she continued to stare at the child in Daniel's arms. "I... I have no idea. The drug she was working with didn't seem to have any of the same properties as Dargol, but it looks like this was an even more potent version of it... or something." She seemed at a total loss as to what to do or say.

Jack and Dr. Brightman arrived then, and they had pretty much the same reaction as Sam and Daniel had. "Oh my God!" they exclaimed in unison.

Daniel had had about enough of it by that point. "Could you all stop gaping and tell me what the hell I'm supposed to do, please?" he asked through gritted teeth. He felt the little girl tense at his tone, so he stroked her back and rocked her gently in his lap to calm her down again.

"I... I don't understand how this could have happened..." Dr. Brightman spluttered.

Jack rolled his eyes. "You're new, so I'll cut you some slack," he said, "but trust me... this kind of thing happens to us all the time. You just have to get used to it."

"How can you be so flippant about this?" Daniel asked in indignation. "Can't you see how serious this is?"

Jack looked like he had been slapped in the face by that remark. "Yes, I can, Daniel. I'm just saying that this was alien stuff she was playing around with yesterday. This shouldn't come as such a surprise."

Daniel was livid, and hugged the girl tighter against his chest. "It was my own damn fault, Jack," he said, his voice breaking almost imperceptibly on the words. "None of this would have happened if I'd paid closer attention."

"I wasn't blaming anyone..."

"Okay, I think everyone just needs to calm down," Dr. Brightman said, finally regaining her composure and approaching Daniel and the little girl on the bed. "However this happened, it has happened. Now we need to figure out a way to reverse it."

Daniel winced and laid his hand on the back of the little girl's head, leaning down to place a kiss on her hair almost automatically. He could feel the heat of her skin as he did so, and it worried him. "Doctor, she feels warm to me," he said. "That can't be good."

Dr. Brightman sat down on the edge of the bed beside them. "It might just be from the way she's been crying," she said quietly. "Janet?" she said to the girl, laying a hand softly on her back.

Janet squirmed at the touch and buried her face deeper into Daniel's open shirt, clutching at his t-shirt with her fists.

Brightman exchanged a look with Daniel, and then tried again. "Janet, I'm not going to hurt you," she said. "I'm a doctor. I just need to look at you to see if you're alright."

When there was no response, Daniel decided he might as well give it a try. "Janet?" he said, trying to pull the girl away from him. "These people are my friends, okay? If you trust me, you can trust them, too."

Thankfully, she allowed him to pry her hands off of his shirt, and he turned her around to face Dr. Brightman. She leaned her head back against his chest and took a few shuddery breaths, but at least she didn't seem to be on the verge of hysterics anymore.

"That'a girl," Dr. Brightman said with a smile. "I've just got to check you over, okay? It'll only take a second."

Daniel kept his arms securely around Janet's waist to prevent her from getting away while Brightman checked her temperature and pulse, but to his surprise, the girl didn't even move.

When Brightman was finished her brief examination, she sat back and sighed. "We need to get her to the infirmary and run more extensive tests," she said. "You're right, Dr. Jackson, she's burning up."

"Okay." Daniel was about to stand up when Janet turned and pressed her face against his chest again.

"I don't want to go!" she cried. "I want to stay here!"

"You don't really have a choice, sweetie," Daniel said, embarrassed at how she was clinging to him. "If you're sick, you have to go there to get better."

"But I want to stay with you!"

Daniel almost cried himself at the fear and sadness in her voice. "You will," he said, hugging her tight. "I'm going, too. I won't leave you alone, I promise."

"Do you think you can carry her?" Brightman asked as she stood up.

"Yeah, no problem." Daniel kept his hold on the girl as he scooted over to the edge of the bed, and when he stood up, she wrapped her legs around his waist and clamped her arms around his neck so hard that he felt he would suffocate. "Um... Janet?" he croaked. "Not so tight, sweetie." He pulled at her arms until she eased her grip a little, and then he shot a sheepish look over at Jack and Sam.

"The doc really seems to like you, Daniel," Jack said.

"Shut up, Jack," Daniel said, inwardly cursing the man for seeming to get so much enjoyment out of the whole thing.

Janet clung to him all the way to the infirmary, and even once they got there it took a lot of strength to pry her arms from around his neck. General Hammond and Teal'c joined them there, and once again, Daniel had to put up with more open-mouthed stares and unanswerable questions. He was feeling more and more guilty every second.

Dr. Brightman put the poor kid through every test imaginable, leaving the girl a quivering, sobbing wreck by the time she was finally done. Daniel wasn't feeling much better, so it helped to calm him down as much as it did her when he could hold her again and whisper soothing words into her ear.

"So, what's the verdict, Doctor?" General Hammond asked.

Dr. Brightman shook her head. "I really don't know what to say, General," she said. "When I checked her out yesterday, everything seemed fine. She didn't seem to have anything but a trace amount of the chemical in her system. Since then the concentration of it in her blood has multiplied a dozen times over."

"Is it still multiplying now?" Daniel asked fearfully.

"Not from what I can tell, no," Brightman said. "I'm hoping that means she won't get any younger than she is right now, which I'm guessing is the equivalent of around five or six years of age."

"What about her fever?" Daniel asked.

"It's not serious at the moment," she replied, "but we need to keep a close eye on it. It's probably due to the stress her body has been under the last few hours. I'm hoping it will clear up now that the transformation has ceased, but I'll give her something for it anyway."

Daniel shot her a wary glance. "You're not trying to tell me this is permanent, are you?"

Brightman looked down at the floor and didn't answer.

"Come on!" Daniel said, holding Janet protectively against him. "This can't be irreversible! If there's a way to cause it, there's got to be a way to fix it... right?"

"We'll do everything we can, Dr. Jackson," Brightman assured. "It just may take some time."

"What are we supposed to do with her in the meantime?" Sam asked, taking the words right out of Daniel's mouth.

"Well..." Brightman said thoughtfully, "she's a normal five year old in every way, from what I can see. I'd suggest you find ways to keep her entertained, as you would for any other child. And Dr. Jackson..." She gave Daniel a meaningful look and gestured to the child that was still clinging to him. "It looks like she's chosen you for chief babysitter."

Daniel rolled his eyes and tried not to notice that everyone was trying to hide their smiles. "Yeah," he said. In a way, he was grateful for that, he realized as he slowly paced the length of the infirmary and stroked the little girl's hair as he waited for her to calm down. He'd have felt worse about the whole situation if he hadn't been able to do anything to help her.

"It's gonna be okay, Janet," he said, leaning his cheek on the top of her head. "I'll make sure of that."

xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxox

"What would you like to eat?" Daniel asked as he approached the commissary's food counter with Janet perched on his hip. "You must be hungry by now, huh?"

She nodded, but didn't lift her head from his shoulder. Her fever seemed to be coming down, but Daniel was worried about how limp and spiritless she was, her legs dangling loosely now that they had released their hold around his waist, and her hands linked together on his shoulder to hold them in place. She hadn't spoken a word since crying for her mommy in the infirmary almost an hour earlier. Even when Dr. Brightman had taken her away from him to get her dressed in clothes more her size, she hadn't even squawked a protest. He had never known Janet to be anything less than energetic and in control in all the time he'd known her. He knew something must be terribly wrong for her to be so... subdued.

"Do you see anything you want?" Daniel asked.

Janet didn't reply.

He had just pressed the back of his hand to her forehead again to check her temperature when Sgt. Siler came up beside him.

"Who's your little friend, Dr. Jackson?" he asked, waving and smiling at the little girl.

"Best not to ask," Daniel muttered as Janet hid her face from the stranger by nuzzling it against his neck. If word got out around the base that Dr. Fraiser was cuddling up to him like this all the time, he would never live it down.

"It's Doc Fraiser, believe it or not," a loud voice behind Daniel suddenly announced.

Daniel groaned. So much for top-secret information. "Jack..."

"Relax, Daniel, I've come to help," Jack said, patting him on the back.

"Oh joy."

"Dr. Fraiser?" Siler asked in surprise.

"Yes, it is," Daniel said. "Thanks to the wonders of alien substances." He put a banana, a plate of waffles, and a bottle of orange juice on his tray, hoping to make a quick getaway, but before he could manage to pick it up with his one free hand, Jack swept in and took it from him.

"I'll carry it," he said. "You've got your arms full already."

For some annoying reason, this comment made Daniel's face heat up with embarrassment. It felt like every eye in the commissary was on him as the three of them made their way over to an empty table, and it made him wish the ground would just open up and swallow him whole.

He knew better by then to try to get Janet to sit in her own seat, so he swung her around in front of him, sat down, and arranged her comfortably in his lap.

"You sure you want to give her all this food when she's not feeling so good?" Jack asked, looking at the plate of waffles doubtfully.

"The waffles are for me, Jack," Daniel said. "If you really want to make yourself useful, why don't you go get me a cup of coffee and her a piece of toast, huh?"

"Whatever you say," Jack conceded.

Daniel sighed in relief as Jack walked away, though he knew his reprieve was short lived. He grabbed the banana from the tray and started to peel it. "Would you like this?" he asked. He recalled seeing Janet with a banana every day at lunchtime, so he figured she must have liked them as a child, too.

Janet took it when he offered it to her, and she took a few tentative nibbles. She didn't seem to dislike it, but her lack of enthusiasm was really starting to scare Daniel.

"Are you feeling okay?" he asked, again checking her temperature with a hand to her forehead. "You don't feel as warm now. Is something else wrong?"

She lowered the banana, and her lower lip trembled like she was going to cry again.

Daniel tightened his arm around her waist in a brief hug. "You don't have to be scared, Janet," he said quietly, trying to make eye contact with her so she could see that he was being honest. "We're going to take care of you, I promise. If you're hurting or feeling sick, though, I need you to tell me, okay?"

Janet sniffed and wiped her eyes with the back of her hand. "Have I been bad?" she asked in a small voice.

"No, of course you haven't been bad," Daniel assured her. "Why would you think that?"

"Everybody's mad," she whispered. "And Mommy and Daddy are gone."

Daniel's heart shattered into a million pieces. He cupped her face in his hand so that she would look at him and said, "Oh, honey, no... no one's mad at you. Some... some bad things have happened to you, that's all, but we're trying to fix them. We all care about you very much. And Mommy and Daddy aren't gone, they're... they just... they told me to take care of you while they couldn't be here. They didn't abandon you, if that's what you think."

She seemed to relax a little at his words, but then she leaned her head against his chest and said, "I want to go home."

Daniel hugged her to himself and rocked from side to side in his chair. "I know you do. I'm sorry, but you've got to stay here for a little while... just until you're all better."

"Are you staying?"

Daniel smiled, this timid little question warming his heart. "Yeah, I'm staying," he said. "I'm not going anywhere."

She pushed him away a little and sat up straighter to look around. "Where are we?" she asked.

_'That's more like it,'_ Daniel thought. _'But what the hell do I tell her?'_ "We're... in a sort of hospital," he said. He tried to think of something better, but that was all that came to mind.

Thankfully, she seemed to buy it, and took a bite of her banana as her eyes scanned the room curiously. "My daddy works in a hospital," she said.

Daniel raised his eyebrows at this tidbit of information. So, Janet had followed in her father's footsteps in becoming a doctor? This was news. "Um... not this one, though. Sorry."

"Are you a doctor?"

"Uh... sort of..." Before he could think of anything more to say, Jack returned with the requested items.

"Here we are," Jack said, doing an impression of a snooty waiter. "One coffee for the gentleman, and toast for the little lady." He set the tray down on the table and gestured to the plate of toast. "Chef cut it into hearts just for you. Isn't that special?"

Janet beamed. "Thank you, Mr. Jack," she said, reaching out for one of the toasted hearts.

Daniel couldn't help but laugh at that. Not only was he overjoyed to see her relaxed and smiling, but Jack's playful antics had brought just the light air they all needed after the past few hours. It felt good to laugh again.

"Mr. Jack?" Jack repeated. "You can just call me Jack, okay?" He chuckled and tousled the girl's hair.

Janet looked up at Daniel for a moment, aiming her smile at him. Then she snuggled up against him again and started eating more earnestly.

Jack caught Daniel's eye and raised his eyebrows.

Daniel knew what that meant. "She's just a kid, Jack," he mouthed. No way was he going to put up with any more teasing about Janet's attachment to him.

Jack shrugged and walked away with his nose in the air and his hands in his pockets.

Daniel sighed. This was going to be a long day.

To be continued...


	3. Chapter 3

**Reversals - Chapter 3**

Janet studied each face she saw as she sat eating the toast hearts that the funny Mr. Jack had brought her. She hoped she would see Daddy or someone else she knew, but everyone around her was a stranger.

She wondered why everyone was wearing such strange clothes - not like Daddy's hospital scrubs at all. Where were all of the pretty nurses dressed in white? Where were all of the doctors in their long coats? She had seen a couple when the lady doctor had examined her, but since then she had only seen people dressed all in green with big boots on.

Except for Dr. Daniel. He wore blue. And the old man with no hair wore a white shirt. Even the blonde lady, Sam, was wearing the strange green suit. It made Janet nervous.

She liked Dr. Daniel. At least, she thought that was his name. Some people called him Dr. something, but most people called him Daniel. Well, whatever his name was, she felt safe with him. When he told her he was going to stay with her, she believed him. When he told her bad things had happened to her but he was going to fix it, she knew he would. She didn't understand what had happened to her - all she knew was that she'd fallen asleep in her own bed and woken up here - but as long as Dr. Daniel could fix it, she would try not to be afraid.

When the big, scary, dark-skinned man came in, she hid her face in Dr. Daniel's shirt so she didn't have to look at him. He hadn't done anything to hurt her, and he seemed to be Dr. Daniel and Mr. Jack's friend, but he just looked so big and scary.

"Major Carter has turned VIP room one into a playroom, and General Hammond suggests you restrict the child's movements to that room, the commissary, and the infirmary."

"Thank you, Teal'c," Dr. Daniel said.

Janet could feel him stroking her hair, and it made her feel warm and safe again. She dared to look up at him and ask, "Are there toys there?"

Dr. Daniel smiled at her. "I don't know," he said. "Want to go find out?"

Janet nodded, so he picked her up and carried her out of the cafeteria.

She kept her face tucked into his neck as they made their way through the halls, because she found the looks of this building rather scary. It wasn't like any building she'd ever been in before, especially not a hospital. There weren't even any windows, and she was sure that some of the men they passed were carrying guns. Dr. Daniel didn't seem to think there was anything to be afraid of, though, so she didn't cry. She knew he would keep her safe.

"Here it is," Dr. Daniel announced as he opened a door and carried her into a room.

Janet brought her head up to look around. It didn't look like any playroom she'd ever seen before - there was a big bed in the middle, a table in one corner, and a few things scattered over them that looked like toys and books.

Dr. Daniel carried her over to the bed and picked up a teddy bear that was sitting on the pillow. "Hey, look at this guy," he said. "Isn't he cute?"

Janet nodded, but didn't say anything. She did think it was a very nice teddy bear, but she didn't know whether he was offering it to her or not.

He sat down on the bed and held her in his lap. "Would you like it?" he asked.

Janet gave him a tiny smile. "Yes, please."

Dr. Daniel smiled back and handed her the teddy bear. She cuddled it as he reached for something else. "How about this doll?" he said. "Would you like to play with it, too?"

Janet looked at the thing closely, but it didn't look like any doll she'd ever seen. It had a funny face that was too big for its body, with huge eyes that looked almost scary. She wrinkled her nose and shook her head.

"No, it is kinda weird looking, isn't it?" Dr. Daniel said, tossing it aside. "I don't know what Sam was thinking bringing you that." He picked her up again and carried her over to the table. "How about some books? Would you like to look at some books?"

"Okay," she said quietly.

She felt scared for a second when Dr. Daniel set her down in a chair by herself, but then he sat down in the chair beside her and started looking through the books on the table. "Here's a nice colouring book," he said. Then he picked up a yellow box. "Oh good, crayons, too. Would you like to colour a picture?"

Janet nodded and took the crayons when he held them out to her. She opened the box as he flipped through the book to find a good picture. There were so many colours inside that her mouth fell open in surprise. "Is every colour in the world in here?" she asked in wonder.

Dr. Daniel laughed. "Pretty close," he said. "How's this picture?" He turned the book around to show her a picture of a dog playing with a ball.

Janet nodded and took the book.

"Mind if I help?"

Janet felt a wave of shyness come over her at Dr. Daniel's gentle question. No one had ever wanted to colour _with_ her before. She ducked her head and nodded, taking out a brown crayon and starting on the dog's face.

Dr. Daniel chose a red crayon and started colouring the ball. She watched the movements of his hand as he worked and tried to copy him. He never went outside the lines, not even once. She hoped she'd be able to colour that well someday.

After a few minutes, she looked over her shoulder to see if Mr. Jack was still there. He'd followed them to the playroom, but she didn't remember seeing him come in. "Where did Mis... Jack go?" she asked when she couldn't see him anywhere, remembering that he didn't like being called "mister" as she said it.

"He had to go talk to someone for a minute," Dr. Daniel said. "He should be back soon. How are you feeling?" He brushed his hand over her forehead again as he asked. Janet liked it when he did that. He had big, gentle hands, just like Daddy's.

"I'm okay," she said. "When's Mommy and Daddy coming?"

"Not yet," he said. "But soon."

She nodded, but she felt sad. She missed Mommy and Daddy, and she knew they must be missing her. The dog in the picture reminded her of her dog Mush, too. She wished he could be here, even if Mommy and Daddy weren't allowed.

Thinking of her family made her want to cry again, even though she was trying to be brave. She buried her face in the teddy bear's fur, hoping that Dr. Daniel wouldn't see what a fraidy-cat she was.

She guessed he must have anyway, because she felt his arm wrap around her shoulders and he gave her a gentle hug. "It's okay, Janet," he said. "You're being very brave. I'm really proud of you, and I know your mommy and daddy would be, too."

"Really?"

"Yeah, really." He hugged her for a little while longer, but then he let her go and said, "We should give your teddy bear a name, don't you think? What should it be... Mr. Bear?"

Janet shook her head and sat the bear in her lap to get a good look at him. "Mush," she said. If she couldn't have her dog, at least she could _pretend_ he was there.

Dr. Daniel smiled. "Mush? Yes, that's a good name for a teddy bear." He took one of the bear's paws in his hand and shook it. "Nice to meet you, Mush. My name's Daniel."

Janet gave him a tearful smile. "He says it's nice to meet you, too."

"Well, he's a bear who knows his manners," Dr. Daniel teased.

Janet giggled. "Can you read me a story?" she asked timidly.

"Sure," he answered right away. "Which one would you like me to read?"

Janet looked at all of the books on the table and settled for one that she recognized as Winnie the Pooh.

Dr. Daniel smiled when she handed it to him. "Good choice," he said. He took the book, stood up, and held his hand out to her.

Janet took his hand and followed him over to the bed, where he sat down and pulled her up onto his lap. His voice was so soothing as he started to read, that before long she'd forgotten about being scared and wishing for her family and her dog. Dr. Daniel and Mush the teddy bear were somehow enough.

xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxox

By the time Daniel had finished reading the Winnie the Pooh story, Janet's head was leaning heavily on his shoulder and he could feel the heat from her forehead right through his shirt. He took a quick look at his watch, and then shifted position a little so he could reach into his pocket for the medication Dr. Brightman had told him to give Janet for her fever. They were just small, chewable tablets, so he was hoping there'd be no trouble getting them into her.

"Time for your medicine, Janet," he said softly as he broke two of them out of their sealed packet. He hated to disturb her as she was drifting off to sleep, but he couldn't take any chances with this mysterious fever.

Janet lifted her head and looked at the pills on Daniel's hand with glassy eyes. "That doesn't look like medicine," she said.

"It's a new kind of medicine," Daniel said. "You chew it. Open up."

Janet obediently opened her mouth, and Daniel quickly popped the two pills inside. She made a face as she chewed them, but she swallowed them down and then leaned against his shoulder again.

Daniel gave her a gentle squeeze. "That's my girl," he whispered, placing a gentle kiss on her burning forehead.

Jack chose that moment to reappear, thankfully entering the room quietly enough that he didn't startle Janet. "How's she doing?" he whispered as he approached the bed.

Daniel knew Janet was still awake, so he didn't voice his fears. He shot Jack a worried look and shook his head slightly instead. "We've been doing some colouring and reading Winnie the Pooh," he said. Then he looked down at Janet and stroked some loose hair back from her face. "Haven't we?"

She gave a vague nod and snuggled in closer to him. "I'm hot," she said.

"I know. You've got a bit of a fever, that's all."

Jack edged closer and said quietly, "When did that flare up again?"

Daniel shook his head. "A few minutes ago. It happened fast."

"Should I bring Brightman down here?"

"No, I think I'll wait and see if the stuff I just gave her has any effect," Daniel said. "If not, I'll take her back to the infirmary."

"Okay. Need anything while I'm here?"

Daniel sighed. "How about a TV? Maybe someone could find some kind of kid movies she would know? I don't really see that these books and things will keep us both entertained all day."

"I'll see what I can do," Jack said with a nod. "What movies?"

"Um..." Daniel looked down at Janet again. "Janet? Are there any movies you'd like to watch?"

"We're going to the movies?" she asked, half asleep.

"No, honey, we're bringing movies here for you to watch... on television. Do you have a favourite?"

There was silence for a moment, but then she looked up at him and said, "May I please watch Cinderella?"

Daniel smiled, pleasantly surprised yet again to see what a lovely, well-mannered little girl Janet had been. Somehow, though, he felt it shouldn't come as a surprise at all. "Of course you can," he said, giving Jack a meaningful look that said, 'Find it at any cost.'

"Coming right up," Jack said, and then he quickly left the room.

Daniel sighed and stroked Janet's arm as she dozed on and off. He was glad that Teal'c was keeping his distance for the time being, as he only seemed to frighten Janet when he was nearby, and he was glad that Sam and Dr. Brightman were busy looking for a way to fix this horrible mess, but he wished there was someone who could help him look after her more.

Jack was doing his best, and for that Daniel was grateful, but right at that moment he wished there was someone else in the room with him. Not for the company, exactly, nor to take her off his hands for a while. He just wished someone were there to tell him this wasn't his fault, to assure him that they'd find a way to reverse it, and most of all, to tell him that the nagging feeling in his gut was just his imagination - that Janet wasn't going to die.

That thought had been eating away at him ever since they'd entered the commissary and she'd been just a dead weight in his arms. The strange fever must be caused by something, and it wasn't going away. In fact, it seemed as though it was getting worse, though the medication appeared to be helping a little. If they didn't find a way to fix this soon... he didn't even want to complete that thought.

Jack wasted no time in finding a TV and a couple of Disney movies, so pretty soon, Daniel found himself wrapped up in the story of Cinderella with a feverish little girl cuddled up against his side. He pressed his hand to her forehead every now and then to check her temperature, and to his great relief, it seemed to go down somewhat. He half expected her to fall asleep, but she kept her eyes trained on the screen through the whole movie.

"I'm going to marry a prince someday," she said as the animated couple on the screen got their happily ever after.

Daniel smiled at the mental picture that gave him of Janet dressed up as royalty, but then he felt ashamed of himself. He knew that Janet's ex-husband had turned out to be anything but Prince Charming. He was a drunk and a bully, but thankfully Janet had come to her senses and left him before things could get really bad.

He held the little girl a bit tighter as these thoughts ran through his mind. He knew it was ridiculous - she hadn't gone back in time, after all, so this Janet wouldn't experience the same things the adult Janet had even if this was permanent - but he was starting to feel very protective of the little tyke. The thought of her going through some of the things he knew Janet had gone through during her lifetime made his skin crawl. He figured that must be how fathers feel about their children, and the thought of him acting as Janet's father confused him to no end. That wasn't how he felt about Janet at all. In fact...

"I'm hungry."

The soft words brought Daniel's mind down out of the clouds, and he quickly glanced at his watch. "Whoa, I didn't realize it was so late," he said. "I'm sorry, sweetie. Yes, let's go get some lunch."

He went to get up off the bed, but Janet clamped her hand around his arm and looked up at him fearfully. "Can't we eat here?" she asked. "I don't like it out there."

It hadn't even occurred to him until that moment just how scary a place like the SGC must be for a little girl. He felt terrible for not realizing that sooner. "Yes, of course we can," he said. "What would you like to eat? I can send Jack for it."

Janet bit her lip as she thought this over. "Peanut butter and jelly sandwich?"

Daniel smiled. "You got it."

He put a call through to Jack, and within minutes their lunch had arrived. Daniel was glad to see that Janet had an appetite, though she still felt a little warm. He made sure she drank a lot, just in case.

The rest of their afternoon was spent watching more movies, colouring another picture together, and playing Snakes 'N Ladders. He took her back to the infirmary after their supper of chicken soup, and while he was disheartened by the fact that they hadn't made any progress towards a way to get Janet back to normal, he was pleased to hear Dr. Brightman say that the girl was doing just fine. She still had no explanation for the fever, but it didn't appear to be dangerous just yet.

Between Dr. Brightman, Jack, Sam, and Daniel, they decided that Janet shouldn't be alone through the night, but that Daniel should have a break and sleep in his own bed while someone else stayed with her. Unfortunately, Janet had other ideas.

The four of them took Janet back to her room, and as Daniel tucked her in, they told her that Sam was going to stay with her until morning. Janet immediately started to look panicked, and clung to Daniel's arm as he was pulling her sheets up to her chin.

"But you said you wouldn't leave me!"

Daniel felt like he'd been knifed right through the heart. "I... said I wouldn't leave you alone, Janet, and I'm not going to do that. Sam's going to be here. You'll be safe, I promise. There's nothing to be afraid of."

"Can't you stay, too?" she pleaded.

"I'm sorry, I can't..."

"Please?"

"No, honey, I can't do that. I have to go sleep in _my_ room. But it's just down the hall..."

Janet promptly burst into tears. "I want Mommy!"

Daniel sighed and looked over at Jack, Sam, and Brightman. They were just standing there, offering no help at all.

Jack shrugged. "Stay with the kid till she goes to sleep, Daniel," he said. "Carter can take over once she's out."

Daniel nodded reluctantly, and took Janet's face in his hands to make her look up at him. "Okay. I'll sit in the chair until you go to sleep, okay? But you have to be a good girl and stop crying."

Janet sniffled and swallowed the rest of her sobs. "O...okay."

Daniel waved piteously at the others as they quietly left the room, and then he settled into the chair by the bed to wait.

How she managed to stay awake for the next hour, Daniel didn't know. He was almost falling asleep in the chair he was so exhausted, but Janet remained wide-awake despite his repeated commands to go to sleep. She just lay there hugging her teddy bear to her chin, sneaking glances at Daniel when she thought he wasn't looking and otherwise squeezing her eyes shut tight so he would think she was trying to sleep.

Finally, Daniel couldn't take it anymore. Thoughts of his own nice, warm, comfortable bed were driving him crazy, as he hadn't had a proper night's sleep in as long as he could remember. He leaned forward and stroked the child's forehead, noting as he did so that she felt cool for the first time. "You have to go to sleep now, Janet," he said wearily. "I need to go get some sleep, too."

"I want Mommy and Daddy," she whispered, her dark eyes wide and glistening with tears again.

Daniel's heart melted. How could he refuse that face? With a resigned sigh, he sat back and started to remove his boots. "Well, it was worth a try," he said. He got up onto the bed beside her, took off his glasses, and laid down, wishing he could get under the covers and get comfortable but knowing that wouldn't really be appropriate. "I'll stay, okay? Go to sleep now."

Janet turned over and tucked Mush under her arm as she snuggled up to Daniel's side.

The last of Daniel's embarrassment and hesitancy faded away as he put his arm around her and let her lay her head on his chest. It felt really good, though he hated to admit that to himself.

"Night night," she said as she drifted off to sleep.

Daniel almost laughed at how easy that was after all that time of sitting there waiting for her to fall asleep. "Night night," he repeated, dropping a kiss onto her hair.

Within moments, Daniel felt himself joining her in a deep, restful sleep.

To be continued...


	4. Chapter 4

**Reversals - Chapter 4**

Daniel slowly awoke to the sound of a door opening and footsteps approaching. He cracked one eye open to see Jack standing over him with his arms folded across his chest and a smirk on his face.

"You just couldn't resist, could you?"

This confused Daniel for a moment, but then he felt the weight on his side. He looked down at Janet, who was fast asleep with her head on his chest and her arm draped across his stomach, and he cringed. Nope, he was definitely not going to live this down. "It was the only way she'd fall asleep, Jack," he said, rubbing his eyes to wake himself up more. He yawned. "What time is it?"

"0600 hours," Jack replied.

"Wow," Daniel said. "I must have slept right through the night. That's a first." He laid his hand on the side of Janet's face to wake her up, but quickly drew it away again as the heat of her skin all but burned him. "Oh God!" he exclaimed, fully awake in an instant. He sat up a bit to get a look at her. "Janet?"

"What is it?" Jack asked in concern.

"She's burning up. Janet?" He tapped her cheek, but she didn't wake up. "Jack, get Brightman down here _now_."

Jack ran off without another word.

Daniel scooped the limp little body onto his lap and tilted her back to get a better look at her face. It was a bright, unhealthy red. "Janet?" he said, desperately hoping she'd open her eyes and say something. "Come on, Janet, please wake up." He bent down to rest his ear on her chest to listen to her breathing and was relieved to find that she wasn't having any problems in that area, at least. Then he pressed his fingers to her neck and found that her pulse seemed normal, if a little fast.

"Please be okay, Janet," he whispered as he held her close with his chin on the top of her head and rocked her back and forth. "Please don't die. Please be okay."

"Daddy?" a pathetically small voice asked.

Daniel wiped his eyes and relaxed his hold on her enough to look down at her. "No, sweetie, it's not Daddy," he said gently. "It's Daniel, remember?"

"I don't feel so good," she whimpered, her eyelids so heavy that she could barely hold them open. "I want Mommy."

Those words almost killed Daniel. "I know you do," he said. "She's coming soon. Just hang in there, okay?"

He could feel her shivering, though she still felt as hot as a furnace. Jack and Dr. Brightman couldn't have come fast enough to suit him if they'd had rockets on their shoes.

Fortunately, they did soon arrive, and Brightman immediately started to check the girl over. "When did it start to get this bad?" she asked.

"I... I don't know," Daniel said, feeling so guilty he just wanted to die. "We both slept right through the night, and when I woke up, she was like this. It could have started hours ago, I wouldn't have known. I'm so sorry, I..."

"Relax, Dr. Jackson," she said, laying her hand on his arm to get his full attention. "This isn't your fault. Let's just take her to the infirmary and see if we can bring her temperature down."

Jack stepped forward to take her, but Daniel reflexively pulled her closer against himself and shot him a warning glare. "I've got her," he said.

"Daniel, you've been with her for twenty-four hours straight. Why don't you take a break, huh?"

"I don't need a break, Jack, I just slept right through the night. She needs me." Before Jack had the chance to argue further, Daniel hoisted Janet up into his arms and got off of the bed.

She curled up against him with her head on his shoulder and her arms tucked between their bodies, so he had to use both arms to hold onto her as they made their way to the infirmary. She didn't even come to life when he laid her down on an infirmary bed, but he sat on the edge beside her and held her hand as Dr. Brightman administered medication and ran various tests. She was awake the whole time, but never said a word. She just lay there looking up at Daniel with sad, tired eyes.

Once Brightman was finished, Daniel raised Janet's hand and kissed it. "You're being very brave," he said, giving her a wobbly smile.

She returned it and weakly raised her arms to him.

"You want another hug, huh? Come here." He gathered her into his arms and stroked her sweat-dampened hair, tuning out all of the hustle and bustle of the infirmary that surrounded them.

Pretty soon, however, he felt a hand on his shoulder, and he turned his head to see Dr. Brightman standing there with a concerned look on her face. "Dr. Jackson?" she said. "Are you alright?"

"I'm fine, yeah," he said, laying Janet back down against her pillow. "Sorry, did you need me for something?"

"Yes, I need to have a word with you, if you don't mind." She stepped over to the other side of the room, making it clear that she wanted him to follow.

Daniel gave Janet an apologetic look. "I've got to go over there to talk to the doctor, okay?" he said. "I'll be right where you can see me."

Janet looked nervous, but she nodded and didn't try to stop him when he stood up and started to walk away. She kept her eyes trained on him as he crossed the room, barely even blinking as she watched his every move.

"What is it?" he asked anxiously once he reached Dr. Brightman. Jack and Sam were also standing with her, and they all looked pretty grave.

"I'm afraid it doesn't look good," Brightman said. Daniel had already learned during her short time at the SGC that she was never one to beat around the bush. "Even though the concentration of the chemical in her system hasn't increased since the last time I checked, it also hasn't dissipated. I have no idea how to clear it out of her system, and I believe she is suffering some kind of allergic or even toxic reaction to it."

"Well... so what do we do?" Daniel asked.

Brightman shrugged. "At this point, I'm afraid there isn't much we _can_ do," she said. "I can give her something for her fever to keep it down to a manageable level, but if the chemical remains in her system for much longer... I think we'll be facing a worst case scenario."

Daniel's heart sank down into his shoes. "You mean she's going to die."

Dr. Brightman couldn't seem to meet his gaze. Even Jack and Sam looked down at the floor. Daniel wanted to hit something. Hard.

"There's gotta be _something_ we can do," he insisted. "It can't be irreversible. It just can't."

"Daniel..."

"I don't want to hear it, Jack."

"Dr. Jackson," Brightman said, her firm tone grabbing everyone's attention right away. "We are all doing the best we can at finding a way to help her, but right now, we need to concentrate on ways to keep her body temperature down."

Daniel took a shaky breath and banged his hands restlessly against his sides. "Alright," he said. "What should we do?"

"Well, first I think a cool bath would be very beneficial..."

"Okay, there's no way in _hell_ I'm doing _that_," he said, holding his hands in the air and backing up a step.

Dr. Brightman smiled. "Don't worry, Dr. Jackson, I wouldn't ask you to," she assured him. "Major Carter and I can take care of that. What I need you to do is make sure she will allow us to do so while you're not here."

He glanced over his shoulder and winced when he saw those brown eyes were still fixed on him with unwavering concentration. "That might not be easy," he said.

"Easy or not, it has to be done," Brightman said calmly. "You have until I can get a basin in here to convince her to cooperate."

Daniel nodded. "I'll try."

He returned to Janet's bedside then, his heart heavy when he looked at her knowing that she might not come through this alive. _'All my fault... all my fault...'_ The thought kept echoing through his mind like a broken record until he bit his lip and pushed it to the side. Then he forced a smile and sat back down on the edge of the bed. "Hey, how are you doing?" he asked.

"Is Mommy and Daddy coming yet?"

That certainly didn't make things any easier for him. "No, not just yet," he said. "But I tell you what... you know what the nice doctor and Sam are going to do for you? They're going to give you a nice bath and get you all cooled down so you'll feel better."

Janet wrinkled her nose and shook her head. "I don't want to."

"You don't want to get all cooled off and feeling clean?"

Janet bit her lip and turned her face away from him.

"Sweetie, you have to have a bath, okay? I'll be waiting right outside the door..."

"I don't want to."

"It won't take very long, I promise."

Her tears began to fall as she said again, "I don't want to!"

It all went downhill from there. No matter what Daniel said or did, Janet did not back down. Daniel knew she was scared and feeling ill, but he didn't understand why she was so adamant about not wanting a bath. He asked her if she was afraid of the water, but she refused to answer. He could only guess it was because he'd told her Brightman and Sam would be doing it, and not him.

When the little tub was brought in the room and filled with lukewarm water, Daniel and Jack went out into the hall and sat down to wait. Daniel felt every one of Janet's cries like a knife in his gut.

"God, aren't they done yet?" he groaned as yet another pitiful cry for 'Mommy' reverberated throughout the infirmary. He leaned forward with his elbows on his knees and ran his hands through his hair.

Jack patted him on the back and gave his shoulder a reassuring squeeze. "You're doing good, Daniel," he said.

"She'll be traumatized for life!"

Jack sighed and leaned forward, copying Daniel's pose. "Look, Daniel... there's something you've gotta understand here," he said. "Kids know instinctively how to make you feel like a heel."

Daniel snorted. "It's working."

"She'll get over it."

"So, what... you're saying she's punishing me for leaving her, and as soon as I get back she'll stop?"

"Not necessarily. She might eke it out for a bit longer even after you go back in there."

Daniel gave him a dark look. "Or maybe she's sick and scared and feels abandoned."

"She knows by now that she can trust Carter and Brightman," Jack said. "She's sick and she's scared, yes, but trust me... that's an angry cry, not panicked. She'll get over it."

"All the same..."

"Okay, Daniel, we're done."

Daniel shot to his feet as soon as he heard Sam's voice and rushed back into the infirmary. Janet was sitting on the edge of her infirmary bed with her legs dangling over the side, sobbing and shivering as Dr. Brightman was doing up the last of the buttons on her pajamas.

"D...Danny!" she cried as soon as she saw him, holding her arms out.

That was the first time she had used his name since this whole thing had started, and it made Daniel's insides turn somersaults. He rushed over to her and picked her up, and she wrapped her arms and legs around him like she never planned to let go again. "It's okay," he murmured into her ear. "Daniel's got you now. It's okay. Calm down now."

"I wanna go home!"

"Shh, it's okay."

He paced back and forth with her as he tried to calm her down, stroking her wet hair and making soft shushing sounds. He was amazed at how naturally the whole kid thing was coming to him. It actually seemed to be working.

"Dr. Jackson?" Brightman said once the girl's sobbing had come to an end. "Would you be willing to brush her hair? She probably wouldn't want anyone else to do it."

"Sure." He sat down on the infirmary bed and settled the little girl in front of him between his legs. "Can you hold yourself there?" he asked her.

Janet nodded. "You're brushing my hair?" she asked.

"Yeah. Is that okay?"

She nodded.

"I'll be as gentle as I can," he said as he gathered the tangled hair and let it fall down her back. He was handed a brush, and he set to work.

He'd never really paid much attention to Janet's hair before, and was surprised at how long it was. Then again, she'd been fully-grown with it before. It was bound to look longer now that she was so small. The colour of it surprised him, too. It was quite pretty. Why hadn't he ever noticed that?

Whatever shampoo they had used on her had thankfully conditioned her hair somewhat, so she didn't seem to experience much pain as he went along. She stayed remarkably silent and still the whole time. "Do you like having your hair brushed?" Daniel asked.

"Uh huh. Mommy does it twice a day, one hundred strokes each."

"Oh... sorry, I haven't been counting."

"Fifty-five," she announced.

Daniel grinned. "Okay... fifty-six," he said on the next stroke. "Fifty-seven... fifty-eight..."

She started to count along with him, and it seemed like no time until they said, "Ninety-nine... one hundred."

"There!" Daniel said, turning her around to face him again. "It's gone all shiny and beautiful."

She beamed up at him. "Thank you, Dr. Daniel," she said. Then she wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed his cheek.

Everything inside and around Daniel seemed to freeze as soon as he felt her fevered little face pressed against his. Every thought was chased out of his mind except one, and that one was much too painful and overwhelming for him to take in. His movements were almost automatic as he returned the embrace, and by the time he realized that he was holding her a little too tight, she was pulling away from him again.

"Can you braid it for me?" she asked. "It's too long, and it keeps getting in the way."

Daniel blinked at her, trying to focus on the words she was saying to him. "Um... I, uh... I don't know how, sweetie. Maybe Sam can do that for you." He disentangled himself from the girl's arms as he spoke, and stood up. "Sam?" he called over to her.

Sam was on the other side of the room talking with Dr. Brightman, but she hurried over at the sound of her name. "Yeah?"

"Could you braid Janet's hair, please? I'll be right back."

"Where are you going?" Janet asked anxiously.

"I'm just... going to the bathroom," he said, forcing a tiny smile for her benefit. "I won't be long."

Before Janet could ask any more questions, Daniel rushed out of the room.

How he made it to the men's room without knocking into anyone or anything he didn't know, as he could barely see through the tears that clouded his vision, but somehow he managed it. Once inside, he locked the door and leaned heavily against the sink to try to calm himself down. He was shaking like a leaf, and the reflection staring back at him from the mirror was ghostly white. He almost felt like he was going to pass out at the sudden revelation he'd had.

She had called him "Dr. Daniel," like he was a real doctor who could help make her better or something. That couldn't be farther from the truth. He was the one who'd caused this whole mess in the first place, and now his hands were tied. He couldn't make her better. No one could. She was the most wonderful person he'd ever known, and he was about to watch her die.

He sank to the ground as this realization overwhelmed him. _She was going to die!_ Not only that, but it was his own damn fault. He'd been obsessing over Sarah ever since the Goa'uld summit, what he should and shouldn't have done, and various ways he might have been able to save her. Because of that he hadn't been sleeping, and in his exhaustion he'd ended up putting Janet's life in danger.

Janet. His dearest friend. How could he have let her down like this? Why hadn't he been more careful... more considerate of her safety?

God, why hadn't he realized until this moment that he loved her?

He couldn't love her. It was just too much. She was a little girl, for God's sake. Still, no matter how he tried to rationalize it, he couldn't deny it. He loved her, plain and simple. He'd do anything... _anything_ to make things right again. He needed her back.

She had always been the strong one in the past, the one he had always turned to for strength, a shoulder to cry on, or just a listening ear. What would he do without her? How could he go on pretending to be strong now when it was her that needed him? What if he just couldn't do it?

One little sob finally broke free despite his attempts at holding it back. Suddenly, all he could think about was that he loved her and hadn't realized it in time to let her know. He was losing her... had already lost her. It was all so confusing and overwhelming, and he found that all he could do was cry.

And so he did.

To be continued...


	5. Chapter 5

**Reversals - Chapter 5**

Janet felt scared when Dr. Daniel rushed out of the room. Had she done something bad? Was he mad at her? She'd thought they were having fun together. What was going on?

"Well, when you gotta go, you gotta go," Sam whispered to her. She smiled, and Janet could tell that she was trying to cheer her up. "So, you want your hair braided, huh?"

Janet nodded shyly.

"One or two?"

"Two, please."

"Okay," Sam said. "I'll have to find something to fasten them with first, though. Hang on a sec."

Janet hugged her knees to her chest as Sam walked away. She hated being left on her own. Dr. Daniel had promised she wouldn't be, but he was gone. She started to feel like she was going to cry again.

"Hey, Kiddo!" Janet fought the urge to hide her face in her arms as Mr. Jack came into the room. "How are you feeling?" he asked.

Janet thought about this for a moment, and then answered, "Better than I could be, worse than I should be under the present circum's dances."

Mr. Jack stared at her in surprise, and then he grinned. "Where did you get that?" he asked with a laugh.

Janet suddenly felt shy again. "My daddy says that," she said quietly.

He looked sort of impressed. "I'll have to remember that one," he said. "Here, I thought you might be missing this guy." He pulled his hand out from behind his back, and handed Mush to her.

Janet smiled as she took the teddy bear, and she hugged him happily. "Thank you, Jack," she said.

"No problem," Mr. Jack said. "Hang onto him this time, huh? He gets lonely."

"I will," she promised.

"Okay, I found some elastics," Sam said, coming back over to her at last. "Let's get that hair braided so you can get back into bed."

Janet sat patiently as Sam did her hair, but she could tell that the lady wasn't used to braiding hair at all. Her hands felt clumsy as she worked, and she kept muttering to herself like she was trying to remember what to do next. Janet wasn't really surprised. Sam's hair was really short, so she probably hadn't made braids in a long, long time.

"Alright, I think we're done," Sam finally announced. "They're not the best braids in the world, but they're not half bad if I do say so myself."

"Finally found something you can't do perfectly, eh Carter?" Mr. Jack teased.

"You'd be surprised, Sir." Sam rolled her eyes and made a funny face at Janet without turning around for Mr. Jack to see.

Janet giggled, but she didn't tattle. She knew they were just joking around.

"Okay, back into bed," Sam said, helping Janet get between the covers. "I think you need a nap after all that." She laid her hand on Janet's forehead as she settled in against the pillow. Her hand felt nice and cool, and made Janet feel more relaxed. "You feel a little cooler now," Sam said. "That's good." She kissed her forehead and smoothed her bangs back. "Get some sleep."

"Is Dr. Daniel coming back soon?" Janet asked.

Sam nodded. "Soon. Sleep."

Janet squeezed her eyes shut, but she didn't feel like sleeping. She heard Sam and Mr. Jack walk away and then start talking to the lady doctor, but she couldn't hear their words and didn't hear Dr. Daniel's voice along with theirs. That made her scared. Shouldn't he be back by now? Maybe he hadn't really gone to the bathroom. Maybe he'd gone away just like Mommy and Daddy did.

But no, he wouldn't have done that. He'd promised her he wouldn't leave, and she believed him. He'd come back. She knew he would.

She tried to be a good girl and go to sleep like she'd been told, but it wasn't easy. Her head felt funny, her tummy hurt, and she wanted Dr. Daniel. Even so, she didn't want to cry. She knew she'd upset Dr. Daniel when she'd cried all through her bath, and she didn't want to do that again. She'd acted like a baby enough for one day.

As the minutes passed, the voices in the room all started to mix in together, and her head got feeling kind of floaty. She could feel herself beginning to fall asleep, but part of her didn't want to. She wanted to know when Dr. Daniel came back.

She dozed on and off for what seemed like a long time, until she felt something touch her hand. She wasn't sure whether she was dreaming or not, and couldn't seem to open her eyes to find out, so she just lay there as someone gently took hold of her hand, slipping their thumb underneath her fingers and covering the back of her hand with their palm. It felt nice.

When she finally managed to crack one eye open, she saw that it was Dr. Daniel. He seemed sad as he looked down at her hand, and he rubbed his face like he was tired. She wished she could cheer him up, but all she could do was squeeze his thumb and hope it would help him see that everything was going to be okay.

He blinked and looked up at her. "Hey," he said. "Did I wake you?"

Janet shook her head. "I knew you'd come back."

Dr. Daniel's face twitched and he looked down again. "Of course I did," he said. "I just went to the bathroom. I wasn't far away."

She looked closely at his puffy eyes, suddenly feeling very sorry for him. "Did you cry?" she asked.

He looked up at her again in surprise, and for a moment she thought she'd said something wrong. Then his eyes softened again, and he nodded. "Yes, I did, a little."

"Why?"

He looked even sadder then. "Because... someone I care about has gone missing... and I miss her very much."

Janet nodded wisely. "Like I miss Mommy and Daddy?"

His mouth smiled, though his eyes still looked sad. "Something like that, yes."

"You'll find her," Janet told him confidently. She really believed he could do anything if he tried.

"I hope so." He squeezed her hand for just a second. "Why don't you go back to sleep, okay? I'll stay right here."

"Okay." She really was feeling sleepy, so now that Dr. Daniel was back, she didn't try to fight it anymore. With Mush tucked under one arm and Dr. Daniel holding her hand, she gently drifted off into a deep sleep.

xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxox

Daniel leaned the elbow of his free arm on the bed and rested his head in his hand. As real as he knew this to be, he still wished he could wake up and find it had all been a dream. A very weird, disturbing dream. He was holding the hand of a five-year-old Janet Fraiser. How could that possibly be real?

She looked even more childlike than ever with her hair in braids and her teddy bear tucked under her arm, and it made Daniel's thoughts turn to children in general. He wondered whether he'd ever have one of his own, and if he did, whether his daughter might look something like her.

He shook himself before that thought was allowed to fester. God, what was he doing? Pretending that the child before him belonged to him and Janet? She was Janet. Why was he having such a hard time accepting that now?

Just as he leaned back in his chair and sighed in frustration, he felt a hand on his shoulder. "Are you okay, Daniel?"

"I'm fine, Sam," he answered. "It's Janet who's not okay."

She squeezed his shoulder and just stood there in silence for a long moment. He didn't turn to look at her, but he could tell she was looking down at Janet just as he was. Finally, she said softly, "Could you come with me for a second? General Hammond wants to talk to you."

Daniel sighed heavily. He didn't want to leave Janet, but he knew better than to argue. With one last wistful look at the sleeping child, he stood up and followed Sam out into the hall.

He stopped and scowled when he saw that Hammond, Jack, and Teal'c were standing there with another man. He'd never seen the man before, but he knew immediately from his clothes, his stance, and the look on his face who he was - NID.

"What's going on?" he asked, folding his arms across his chest and studying the stranger closely.

"Dr. Jackson, this is Agent Montgomery of the NID," General Hammond said. Daniel could tell from the tone of his voice that he wasn't happy about the man's presence on his base, either.

Before the general could continue, Daniel broke in. "I know exactly why you're here, and you can forget it," he said in a low voice.

"Dr. Jackson," General Hammond warned. "Agent Montgomery has made a very good argument for his cause..."

"I'm sure he has."

"This drug is probably the most important discovery we have made in the last few years, and in order to study its effects on the human body, they need to examine Dr. Fraiser more thoroughly than our equipment here can do."

"You mean they want her to be their lab rat," Daniel spat out, glaring at Montgomery in a way that dared him to challenge his comment.

"She will be well taken care of, I can assure you," Montgomery said.

Daniel wanted nothing more than to rip the man's throat out, but he somehow managed to restrain himself. He blocked the doorway to the infirmary and said in a menacing tone, "You're not getting within ten feet of her."

"Dr. Jackson, please," Hammond said firmly. "This is not your decision to make."

"General, we can't just let them take her!"

"Easy, Daniel," Jack said, coming to stand at Daniel's side. "If there's really nothing more we can do for her here, doesn't it make sense to send her where they _can_ do something?"

Daniel turned around to direct his death glare at Jack. "Et tu, Jack?" he said. "Whose side are you on, anyway?"

"There are no sides, Daniel, for God's sake..."

"Yes, there are, Jack - right and wrong. She's just a kid! She won't understand what's happening to her. You saw how scared she was just from having a damn bath, and now you want to ship her off with strangers to have God knows what done to her? Are you all insane?"

"Dr. Jackson!"

"I'm sorry, General, but this is crazy. You can't just let them take her."

Montgomery cleared his throat and jumped into the fray. "I have my orders, Dr. Jackson. I'm to take the child to Area 51 immediately. She will be well cared for, but if I understand correctly, the results of being exposed to so much of this chemical all at once have put her life in grave danger. We can't afford to delay - we need to study these effects _now_."

Daniel stepped closer to the man, getting a thrill of power when Montgomery withered slightly and backed away. "Don't you ever talk about her like that," he said threateningly. "This is Dr. Janet Fraiser we're talking about here, not some... experiment gone wrong."

Montgomery sighed in exasperation and turned to Hammond. "General Hammond, could you please do something about this man's behaviour? I am only trying to do my job here."

"I apologize, Agent Montgomery. Dr. Jackson, could you please either step aside or go and prepare Dr. Fraiser for transport."

"General, please! Don't let them do this!" Daniel begged.

"I'm sorry, son," Hammond said. "This is out of my hands. Please step aside."

Daniel suddenly felt utterly hopeless and helpless. He knew they were right - if there was any chance at finding a way to help Janet, the scientists at Area 51 were their best bet. That didn't mean he had to like it, though. Without another word, he stepped to the side of the doorway and held his hand out, gesturing for Montgomery to enter.

Montgomery kept a wary eye on Daniel as he passed him and went through the door, and Daniel met his gaze with a hard look on his face. Once the man was out of sight, he turned his glare onto Jack.

Jack shrugged his shoulders and held his hands out to the side. "What else can we do, Daniel?" he asked. "I don't like it any more than you do..."

A sudden cry cut Jack off mid-sentence, and Daniel's heart leapt up into his throat as he ran back into the infirmary. He charged right over to Janet, who was curled up on her side, trying to keep Montgomery from lifting her up off of the bed.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?" Daniel yelled, hauling Montgomery out of the way and gathering the frightened little girl into his arms. "Can't you even do that much without scaring her to death?"

Janet clung to his neck for dear life, and Daniel hugged her protectively as he crossed the room away from everyone else. "Who is that man?" she asked fearfully.

Daniel glanced over at Montgomery, who had now been joined by another sour-faced NID agent and a man who appeared to be a doctor of some kind. "He's... someone who wants to help make you better again," Daniel said, gritting his teeth at the lie.

"Then why did you yell at him?"

Daniel winced and set her down with her feet on the floor. "I yelled at him because he upset you," he said, squatting down to be at eye level with her. "I didn't know he was going to frighten you like that."

"I woke up and you weren't there," she said quietly.

"I know." Daniel glanced over his shoulder again and saw that Montgomery was starting to look extremely impatient. The man seemed to take that as an invitation to speak, and he went over to stand behind Daniel.

"We have to go now, Dr. Jackson," he said. "Please let me take the girl."

Daniel rose slowly to his feet, took Montgomery's arm, and pulled him a few steps away from Janet. "Look," he said in almost a whisper, "I doubt that she's going to go willingly unless I go with you."

"I can't allow that, Dr. Jackson."

"What? Why?" Daniel demanded.

"I'm under orders here, Dr. Jackson. Those are to bring the girl back to Area 51 as quickly as possible, not to bring along a babysitter. Dr. Shaw will accompany us to look after her during the trip."

Daniel laughed in disbelief. "You have got to be kid..."

"Dr. Jackson," General Hammond's strict voice cut him off.

Daniel sighed and shot another glare at the NID agent in front of him. "Fine," he growled. Then he went back over to Janet, who was still standing where he had left her, looking on with a worried look on her flushed face.

He squatted down in front of her again, and took her hands in his. "Listen," he said as gently as he could, "you have to go with these men, okay? It's not because you've been bad. It's because you're sick, and they want to make you better."

"I don't want to go."

"I know you don't, sweetheart." He felt someone come to stand beside him as he reached out to stroke her hair, and he glanced up to see Jack standing there looking just as heartbroken as Daniel felt. He turned back to Janet and tried to keep his emotions in check as he spoke again. "I need you to do this for me, though, okay?" he said. "I need you to be a good girl and do what these men say. Can you do that for me, Janet?"

She sniffled, her face screwing up in distress. "But I want to stay with you!"

"I want you to stay, too, but you can't. I'm sorry, Janet."

She looked nervously over his shoulder and leaned forward to say into his ear, "I don't like those men. They look mean."

"They're not mean, sweetie," Daniel said. "They're... they're just..."

"Conscience challenged ass-holes."

Daniel looked up at Jack in horror. "Jack!"

"Well, they are!"

Daniel looked back at Janet, unable to hold back a slight smile. "Don't you repeat that," he told her playfully.

Janet's lower lip trembled. She was clearly on the verge of panic again. "I'm scared," she whispered.

Daniel's heart broke at the look on her face. He didn't want to do this. He'd rather die than send her off to the NID, but what choice did he have? "I know," he said sympathetically. "Come here." He drew her into a hug and gently stroked her back as she sniffled into his shoulder. "You're gonna be fine, okay? I promise you that. And when you get all better, you can come back."

"And stay forever?"

Daniel felt absolutely gutted by this question. He remembered how as a child, while being passed around from foster home to foster home, he'd always hoped to find his "forever home" someday. He never had. "Yes, forever," he said, meaning it wholeheartedly. Whatever the outcome, if he got her back he was never going to let her go again.

"We don't have all day, Dr. Jackson."

Daniel tensed at the sound of the man's voice. _'Trust Montgomery to interrupt the moment,'_ he thought.

Thankfully, Jack jumped in so Daniel didn't have to. "Hey! Give 'em a minute, will you?" he snapped.

Daniel was even sure he heard Jack thwap the man's arm, and he silently cheered him on.

This exchange made Janet cling to Daniel even harder. "Please don't make me go!" she cried.

"Shh." Daniel rubbed her back more firmly. "I need you to be brave, Janet," he said. "This will all be over before you know it."

"No!"

"I know it's scary, but you know what to do when you get really scared and you just feel like crying or running away?"

"What?"

Daniel pulled her away a bit and cupped her face in his hands. Then, before he knew what he was doing, he said, "You just remember that Daniel loves you, and that he's thinking about you all the time. Can you do that?"

Janet sniffled and wiped her face with the back of her hand. "Daniel loves me," she repeated.

Daniel smiled. "That's right. Then if you remember that, you don't have to be afraid."

She sniffed again and nodded. "I'll try."

"That's my girl." He kissed her cheek, took her hand, and stood up. He faced the "conscience challenged ass-holes" with a brave face, but inwardly he was just as frightened as the little girl clinging to his hand was. "Okay," he said, giving Montgomery one last glare of warning. "Take care of her."

Montgomery nodded and gestured to Dr. Shaw to pick the girl up. Daniel felt her stiffen as the stranger approached, but when he squeezed her hand and gave her an encouraging smile, he could see that she was trying her best to be brave.

Shaw picked Janet up without effort and turned to go. Daniel had to pry his hand out of Janet's grasp as the man just started walking away without a moment's hesitation. He waved as she looked over the doctor's shoulder at him, but she didn't wave back. The sorrowful, lonely look on her face sent pain through Daniel's very soul.

Then she was gone.

To be continued...


	6. Chapter 6

**Reversals - Chapter 6**

Daniel slammed the notebooks onto his desk and plopped down into his chair. He flipped the top one open and started skimming through the pages, looking for anything he might have missed before that could be of any help at all. There had to be something. There were at least a dozen books filled with notes taken by the scientists who had created this drug. Out of all of that, there _had_ to be something on what to do if a person accidentally received an overdose. Surely it had happened before.

_'Of course it hasn't happened before,'_ a voice in the back of his mind taunted him. _'No one else has ever been stupid enough to put the wrong ingredients into the mixture.'_

"Come on," he muttered. "Help me out here. There has to be something..."

He was looking through the third one when he finally saw it - "Over-exposure can cause full reversal. See Ambrocio's notes."

Daniel practically jumped out of his chair. "Yes!" he cried, his hands suddenly starting to shake as he flipped through the rest of the notebook. He didn't see any more mention of "Ambrocio," however, so he put it aside and picked up another.

And another. And then another. No matter how hard he looked, he couldn't find any other mention of a researcher named Ambrocio.

When he'd looked through the last one and came up empty, he tossed it aside in disgust and buried his face in his hands. He was so close. Someone had obviously had the same thing happen to them as happened to Janet, and it was more than likely that they knew how to fix it. This "Ambrocio," whoever the hell he was, could hold the key to bringing Janet back, and more importantly, to saving her life.

He was on his feet and out the door in a split second when he realized what he had to do. He had to go back to that planet and find Ambrocio. He had to save Janet at any cost.

xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxox

Janet felt so sleepy in the car and on the plane that she couldn't stay awake for more than a minute or two at a time. She didn't know why she felt so tired. She was usually wide-awake whenever she traveled anywhere, because she liked to look out the window at everything they were passing by. She wondered if it had anything to do with the funny tasting juice Dr. Shaw had given her to drink. She hadn't wanted to drink it, but he'd told her she had to, and since she'd promised Dr. Daniel she would be brave and do what these men told her to, she'd choked it down without argument.

When she woke up alone in a little room she'd never been in before, she wished she hadn't.

Her first reaction was fear. Had she been left all alone? Where was she? Was this a hospital? Were Mommy and Daddy nearby? What was going to happen to her?

A sob escaped from her throat. "Mommy?" she called. Nobody answered. "Somebody?"

She sat up in her bed and hugged her knees to her chest while she quietly cried. She wished Dr. Daniel would come in and pick her up like he had all those other times. She knew it wasn't going to happen, though. He was far, far away, and so was Mr. Jack, Sam, the kind lady doctor, and Mush. Mommy and Daddy probably were, too. She felt so alone that it made her tummy hurt.

It wasn't long before the door swung open and a man and a lady came into the room. The lady was pushing a cart with all kinds of strange things on it. Janet got a creepy feeling when she looked at them, and inched away from them as they approached her bed.

"Ah, you're awake," the man said. "That's good. You don't have to be afraid. We're just going to give you a quick examination, alright?"

Janet didn't believe him, but she kept her promise to Dr. Daniel and let him do what he wanted to. He put something around her arm and pumped a little ball until it was so tight that it hurt. Then he took that off, and drew blood from her arm. While he did that, Janet saw that the lady was fiddling around with a machine that was on the cart. She watched the lady warily as the man stuck a thermometer in Janet's ear and pressed a stethoscope to her chest. She didn't like the looks of that machine.

"Okay," the man said with a sigh as he finished his tests. "Let's get her set up, and then we can begin."

"What is that?" she asked timidly, pointing at the machine that the lady was wheeling closer to her.

"That's just a machine that is going to record your heart rate, blood pressure, brain waves, and that sort of thing," the man said. "It's nothing to be afraid of."

He made her lie down again, and although he was almost rough with her in his hurry to finish the job, Janet didn't cry out. She was much too scared to make a sound.

The lady started sticking round things attached to wires to Janet's chest, arms, and forehead. They didn't hurt, but it felt strange and made Janet want to scratch. She didn't dare move a muscle, though, as the lady turned the machine on and then picked up a needle.

"Give her the first dose now," the man told the lady, "and if there's a reaction, give her the second dose in an hour. If there's no reaction within fifteen minutes, summon me and we'll try option number two."

"Yes, Doctor."

Janet watched with wide eyes as the man left the room. The lady came towards her with the needle then, and without wasting a second, she stuck it in Janet's arm.

The sudden pain of it was the last straw. Janet couldn't stifle a frightened cry no matter how hard she tried. The lady gave her a disapproving look, but didn't say anything as Janet dissolved into tears.

_"You just remember that Daniel loves you, and that he's thinking about you all the time."_

She wished that Dr. Daniel was there with her, but in his absence she held onto those words with all of her might. Daniel loved her, and he was thinking about her all the time. She didn't have to be afraid.

xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxox

"Thank you for seeing us on such short notice, Daemon."

"Well, your message made it seem like a matter of life or death," the scientist said, sitting down at his desk and leaning back in his chair to study the faces of the two men who had just entered his office. "What can I do for you, Dr. Jackson?"

Daniel glanced at Jack for a second before he replied, just to be on the safe side. Jack had made it clear after Daniel's outbursts with first the NID agent in the infirmary and then with General Hammond as he was asking permission to return to the planet that Daniel wasn't to make a move or say a word without permission. Even though Jack couldn't understand anything that they were saying, Daniel knew he would know the instant anything "undiplomatic" was said.

At Jack's raised eyebrow and cocked head, Daniel figured it was safe to proceed. "We... had a bit of an accident with the 'youth' drug you provided for us," he said. "One of our doctors got too much of it in her system, and a few hours later... she was a child."

Daemon nodded slowly as Daniel spoke, his calm attitude of acceptance irritating Daniel to no end.

"You knew this could happen?" Daniel asked.

"There are many things that can happen when one is experimenting with unknown substances."

Daniel narrowed his eyes at the man, but then he felt Jack's hand clamp down on his arm. He swivelled to aim his glare in Jack's direction and received a warning look in return.

Taking a deep breath, Daniel turned back to Daemon and asked, "Is there a way to reverse it?"

Daemon looked thoughtful and shook his head. "I really do not know," he said. "Such a thing has not happened in many years, and the youth serum has never been my area of expertise."

"Then whose area of expertise is it?" Daniel demanded.

Daemon looked down at his hands and pursed his lips.

"Ambrocio?"

Daemon looked up at Daniel in surprise. "How did you know that name?" he asked.

"It was written in one of the notebooks you gave me," Daniel replied. "It said, 'Over-exposure can cause full reversal. See Ambrocio's notes.' Where are Ambrocio's notes?"

Daemon didn't answer, just looked down at his hands again with a stricken look on his face.

Daniel slapped his hands down on the desk in front of the man and shot him his most withering glare. "Where are they?" he shouted.

"Hey!" Jack grabbed Daniel's arm and yanked him back a couple of steps. "I told you to..."

"He's holding out on us, Jack!"

"I don't care, Daniel," Jack snapped. "You destroy peaceful relations with these people, and Hammond will have both our asses. Now calm the hell down!"

"Ambrocio's notes are hidden away," Daemon finally spoke up.

Daniel turned back to him, straightening his jacket and trying to reclaim his dignity. "Where?" he asked.

"No one knows but Ambrocio," Daemon replied. "That is why I could not give them to you in the first place. Otherwise I would have, I swear."

"Where is Ambrocio?"

"He... he is not well," Daemon said tentatively. "He spent his life performing dangerous experiments and working with toxic substances. It took its toll."

"But he's alive?"

Daemon nodded. "His body lives... his mind is all but gone."

Daniel sighed in frustration. "Can I see him?" At Daemon's obvious hesitation, he added, "Please?"

Finally, Daemon nodded and stood up. "I will take you to him," he said. "But please, do not hold me responsible if you do not find what you are looking for. He may not be fit to answer questions."

Daniel gestured for Jack to follow him, and the three men left Daemon's office at an urgent pace.

As they made their way out of the science building and into that planet's version of a streetcar, Daniel started to get antsy. They were so close to finding the cure that he could almost taste it. Any kind of wait now seemed twice as long as it normally would.

He hated to think what the NID were doing to Janet in the meantime, but if there was one thing he could be sure of in this situation, it was that they would keep Janet alive as long as possible, no matter what. They hadn't run out of time just yet, but still, Daniel wished the streetcar would move faster.

When they finally arrived at their destination, Daniel knew right away what it was - a psychiatric hospital. It seemed that they looked more or less the same on every planet. And Daniel did know what they looked like. He'd visited Nick in one plenty of times for it to be burned into his memory.

They were taken straight inside, and after Daemon had a quiet word with one of the attendants, they were escorted up two flights of steps and told to wait in the outer room.

"You're sure about this?" Jack asked for the tenth time since they'd left Daemon's office.

"I'm sure, Jack. Ambrocio knows how to fix it. I know he does."

"And if he can't even string a sentence together, let alone tell us what to do... what?"

"Well… I guess we'll have to cross that bridge when, or if, we come to it," Daniel replied.

They only had to wait there a minute before a woman came in and gave them permission to enter the ward. Then they were led through to another room, where a grey-haired man was sitting by a window in a wooden chair. He was staring vacantly at the floor and was all bundled up in blankets, his stooped posture and wrinkled face making it clear that he was a very old man. Considering that the people of this planet lived to be close to two hundred years old, Daniel guessed that he must be at least that, if not more.

"You are in luck," Daemon whispered to Daniel. "He seems calm today."

Daniel glanced at Daemon and Jack for a second, and then approached the old man slowly. "Ambrocio?" he said.

The old man raised his eyes to look at Daniel, though he seemed to have trouble actually seeing him. "That is not my name," he said, his voice surprisingly soft. "I am Apollo."

Daniel's heart suddenly started to ache for the old man. He knelt down in front of him and forced a tiny smile onto his face. "God of prophecy, music, archery, healing... and youth."

The old man smiled and nodded. "I brought everlasting youth to my people," he said.

"Yes, you did. You made a brilliant discovery."

Ambrocio closed his eyes and bowed his head, and for a moment Daniel feared that he had fallen asleep.

"My lord?" he said, taking one of Ambrocio's gnarled hands in his own.

The man's eyes snapped open again, and he looked down at Daniel in surprise. "Yes?"

"I need your help," Daniel said gently. "A friend of mine has had an accident with the youth serum you created. She became a child again, and now she is dying. Can you help her?"

Ambrocio seemed lost in thought for a long moment, and Daniel waited patiently until he spoke again. "This happened to one of my test subjects," he said. "The chemical was too much for his body to handle. He shrank to the size of a child before my very eyes. The chemical then turned toxic to his system."

"Yes, that is exactly what is happening to my friend," Daniel said. "Did you find a way to stop it?"

The old man shrugged. "You merely have to cleanse the toxin out of her system."

Daniel sighed. "We haven't been able to figure out how to do that," he said. "No matter what we try..."

"Have you tried folleris root?"

"Folleris root... what is that?"

"It cleanses the body," Ambrocio answered. "Give her... half a root, ground and mixed with water. It will neutralize and cleanse the toxin from her body, and she will grow again."

Daniel looked over at Daemon, barely able to contain his excitement. "Do you know where I might get my hands on something called 'folleris root?'" he asked.

Daemon nodded vigorously. "Yes, of course," he said. "I will get you some right away."

Daniel turned back to Ambrocio and grinned. "Thank you, Apollo," he said, raising the old man's hand to kiss it. "I will never forget your graciousness."

He rose to his feet, but Ambrocio gripped his hand and pulled until Daniel was stooped down to his level again. "Do not use it," he whispered.

"Do not use what?"

"The youth serum," Ambrocio replied. "It is flawed. I advised against using it when I realized that the toxic reaction is inevitable in one half of the population. Some may die instantly rather than reverse. My government did not listen to me. You are obviously not of my world; so if your people have not used it yet, do not let them. It is not worth the risk."

Daniel didn't know what to say to that. For the first time since he'd walked in the room, he felt as though he was getting through to the real Ambrocio and not talking around his alter ego. He wrapped his free hand around the old man's and nodded. "Thank you," he said. "I will be sure to let my people know."

The old man looked relieved and allowed Daniel to stand up again. "I wish your friend well," he said.

Daniel pulled his hand free and crossed the room over to Jack and Daemon. "I think we have what we came for," he told Jack quietly. "Let's go home."

To be continued...


	7. Chapter 7

**Reversals - Chapter 7**

"What do you mean, they won't stop? Are they really that stupid, to continue on with this when lives are at stake?" Daniel paused for a moment and let out an ironic laugh. "No wait, don't answer that. Of course they are."

"I explained the danger quite clearly," General Hammond said, "but they deemed it worth the risk."

"Yes, and that's exactly what Ambrocio said his government did. Who knows how many people died because of it?"

"You're preaching to the choir, Dr. Jackson," Hammond said. "This is out of my hands. I've already been ordered to send the notebooks down to Area 51. They should be arriving there shortly."

"So that's it?" Daniel demanded in indignation. "They're just going to go ahead and implement a drug that could kill half the people they give it to? And what about Janet? Are they just going to let her die, too, so they can continue their precious research?"

"Dr. Fraiser is not going to die," Hammond said firmly. "The drug you brought back will be sent along to Area 51 immediately."

"It's a root," Daniel corrected, "and no one's _sending_ it anywhere. I'm taking it there myself."

To prove his statement, he marched right out of Hammond's office and down the hall to the elevator, ignoring his name as the general tried to call him back. There was no way in hell that he was just going to sit around and do nothing while the NID still had Janet. They had no right to perform any more experiments on her now that they not only had a way to cure her but had also found out that the drug was harmful anyway. Yet he knew that's exactly what they were going to do.

He went straight to the infirmary, where the folleris root had been taken for analysis. _'Screw the analysis,'_ he thought. _'Janet needs that stuff now.'_

Dr. Brightman was in the medical bay when he got there, so he more or less cornered her and asked where the medicine was. She didn't hesitate to hand it over to him, as she, too, wanted Janet back safe and sound as quickly as possible.

Daniel thanked her and was about to walk away when she called him back.

"Dr. Jackson?" she said. "When you see her, could you give her this?"

Daniel's mouth fell open when she brought Mush out of one of the medicine cabinets. His eyes teared up as she handed it to him. "I didn't know she'd left this behind," he said sorrowfully. "God, she's really been all alone."

"All the more reason to bring her back ASAP," Brightman said.

Daniel met her gaze for a second and nodded. Then he turned and quickly left the room.

Upon reaching Level 27 again, he found Hammond in a much calmer mood than he'd left him in. It seemed that Jack had had a talk with the general, and had volunteered himself and the rest of SG-1 to accompany Daniel on his little mission.

"Just bring her back, Dr. Jackson," Hammond told him. "And if something should... accidentally happen to those notebooks..." He didn't finish his sentence, but Daniel understood his message loud and clear - 'Keep dangerous materials out of enemy hands.'

That was one unspoken command that Daniel intended to obey.

xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxox

Janet didn't know how much time had passed since she had been brought to this awful place, but it felt like it had been days. After she had tried to take the sticky circles off, she had been tied down to the bed so she couldn't do it again. No matter how many times she'd said she was sorry, and no matter how hard she'd cried, nobody had taken pity on her and set her free. Now she didn't feel like she could even cry anymore.

She was woken up from a light sleep by her door opening yet again and the man and the lady coming into the room. She had really started to hate those two. She didn't think they really wanted to make her better at all. They kept on giving her needles that made her feel funny, not medicine that made her feel better. And they never, ever smiled.

They weren't alone this time, though. Another, bigger man entered the room after them. He looked scary, and Janet didn't like him one bit.

"Alright, unhook her from the monitor and then untie her and turn her onto her side," the man said. "Make sure you hold her arms and legs securely. We have to be sure she won't thrash about during the procedure."

The big man nodded and started to take the circles off of her and untie her hands.

"What are you doing now?" Janet asked fearfully.

"We just need to get a sample of your spinal fluid," the man said. "Don't be afraid. It will hurt a little, but it will soon be over."

"I don't want to!" Janet cried. The man turned her over onto her side despite Janet's attempts to break free, and held her arms tight against the bed while the lady grabbed her legs. "No!" she screamed. "Mommy! Daddy! Danny! Help me!"

"Janet, I'm going to have to insist that you calm yourself before we begin," the man said. "Do you hear me? Settle down."

She heard him, but she was no longer interested in being a good girl and doing what she was told. She wanted out, and she wanted out _now_. She thrashed about as much as she could while being held down by such strong arms, determined to keep them from coming near her long enough that they'd give up and go away.

Unfortunately, her strength soon ran out, and before long she could only lay there panting for breath and shaking with fear. Whatever they were about to do to her, she had no way of stopping it. She couldn't remember ever being so scared in her whole life.

When the first man started poking around on her bare back, panic finally set in. She found she couldn't move, even if no one had been holding her down. All she could do was sob and scream the same name over and over and over.

"Danny!"

xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxox

Daniel couldn't seem to keep still during the flight to Nevada. He jigged his legs so much that Jack finally yelled at him to cut it out, and then he took to drumming his fingers on the arm of his chair. He felt as though he were flying in the slowest airplane ever created.

The car ride to Area 51 wasn't much better. If he'd been driving, he would have pushed the car to go as fast as it possibly could, rather than the snail's pace Jack was going. "Can't you go any faster?" became his new favourite phrase.

"For crying out loud, Daniel, I'm already speeding as it is," Jack said in exasperation after the fifth time Daniel said it.

"They could be doing anything to her, Jack."

"You think I don't know that? Relax."

Daniel glared at Jack and then turned to look out of his window. How could he possibly relax when Janet was being held by people who would rather find answers to their unanswerable questions than save a life?

The process of getting into Area 51 went agonizingly slow, and Daniel was tempted to just charge in there, clearance or no clearance. Thankfully, Jack and Teal'c held him back while Sam did all the talking. They couldn't afford to mess this up now.

Once they were finally inside, they were told how to get to the lab where Janet was being "studied," and the four of them made their way there as quickly as they could without seeming overly eager. Daniel's chest tightened more and more with every step, until he could barely even breathe. He could almost feel her - could sense that they were getting closer to her.

He could also sense that something was terribly wrong.

As they approached the lab, a muffled sound reached his ear that he had no trouble recognizing the second he heard it. Before anyone could stop him, he broke into a run.

"Daniel!" he heard Jack call after him.

He didn't answer. The sound grew louder as he ran, and he wasn't about to waste another second when Janet was screaming his name like that.

As he drew closer, he started looking through the windows in every door, desperately trying to find her. Room after room appeared empty, until he finally came to a door with no window at all. The sound of Janet's frightened cries was undoubtedly coming from inside.

He tried the handle, but it seemed to be locked. "Dammit!" he cried. He slapped the palm of his hand on the metal door and yelled, "Hey! Open this door!"

Jack, Sam, and Teal'c ran up behind him as he started to pound on it with one hand and rattle the door handle with the other. They seemed just as distressed as he was by the child's screams.

Angered by the lack of response from inside the room, Daniel started to throw his full weight against the door. It didn't budge.

"Step aside, Daniel," Jack told him, patting his shoulder to get his attention.

Daniel did as he was asked, but Jack indicated that he stay close to the door.

"On three," Jack said.

Daniel nodded and braced himself.

"One... two... three!"

The two men both kicked at the door with all of their strength, and it flew open.

"What the hell is this?" cried a masked man who was holding a rather menacing looking needle. He had obviously been about to stick it in Janet's back, as the child was lying on the bed with her back exposed, her arms and legs held firmly in place by a rather cold looking man and woman.

"Get away from her!" Daniel shouted, lunging for the man and shoving him across the room.

"Don't you lay a hand on me!" the man shouted angrily. "I'll call security!"

"You do that," Jack said as he and Teal'c rushed in to deal with the other two. "Just make sure you tell them what you've been doing in here to a poor, defenceless kid."

"I am well within my rights to..."

"Yeah, yeah, yeah," Jack cut him off, shoving him out the door.

Once Teal'c wrestled the big man away from Janet and was "escorting" him and the woman towards the door, Daniel scooped the sobbing child up into his arms. "Did they do anything to her, Sam?" he asked anxiously.

Sam looked closely at Janet's lower back and shook her head. "No puncture marks," she said. "Looks like we got here just in time."

"Thank God." Daniel closed the back of Janet's gown and held her tight. "The bastards were really going to give her a spinal tap," he said with quiet anger in his voice. "What kind of monsters would do that to a kid when it isn't absolutely necessary?"

"I guess they thought it _was_ necessary," Sam said.

Daniel snorted, but soon Janet had his full attention. She was still shaking and sobbing, and hadn't really acknowledged that he was holding her. "Janet?" he said. "Daniel's got you, okay? No one's going to hurt you now. You don't have to be scared anymore."

"I tried to be a good girl," she said between sobs.

Daniel felt yet another stab of guilt at this mournful statement. "I know you did, sweetheart," he said, stroking her hair. "I'm so sorry."

"Carter," he heard Jack's voice call. "Notebooks."

"Yes, Sir," Sam called back. "I'll be right back," she told Daniel, and then she hurried out of the room.

Daniel sat down on the edge of the bed, cradling Janet in his lap. "Did they hurt you?" he asked, relieved to note that she was starting to calm down a little.

She sniffled and nodded.

"Where?"

Janet held out her arm without saying a word, so Daniel pulled up her sleeve. The puncture marks in her skin made him nauseous. He also didn't fail to notice the marks on her wrists that must have been caused by restraints.

"God, I'm so sorry, Janet," he whispered, cuddling her close to himself and rocking her back and forth. "It's all over now, okay? We're gonna make you all better."

Janet went quiet and still then, though her breath still came in shuddery gulps and a shiver passed through her tiny frame every few seconds.

Daniel sat patiently waiting for her to calm down while he listened to the havoc going on outside the room.

"We're taking her back whether you like it or not. You've had plenty of time to run your little experiments."

"I'll be taking this up with your superiors, Colonel O'Neill."

"I'm sure you will. Carter?"

"I found the notebooks, Sir."

"Those are no longer your property, Major Carter. Give them to me."

"Okay, if you insist."

Daniel winced at the crash and clatter he heard as Sam obviously knocked something over.

"Oh God, I'm sorry! Was that some kind of acid?"

"What the hell did you do?"

"Sorry, Sir, it doesn't look like they'll be of much use now."

"Oh, you're definitely paying for that one, O'Neill."

"Yeah, probably."

Daniel couldn't help but smile. He knew his friends would take care of everything.

His smile soon vanished, however, when Janet suddenly went limp in his arms. He tilted her back to look at her face, and saw that she was out cold. "Janet?" Her face was bright red, and he could tell without even touching her skin that her fever had returned in full force. "Jack?!" he called, lifting her up and rising to his feet.

Jack, Sam, and Teal'c hurried into the room at the sound of his voice, and it only took them one look at Janet to understand what was going on. "Let's get her out of here," Jack said.

Daniel wasn't about to argue, but there was one thing he needed to do first. "Here, can you take her for a second?" he asked. He passed the girl over to Jack and quickly shrugged off his jacket. "I don't want to waste time looking for her clothes," he explained as he wrapped it around her and took her back.

"Good idea," Jack said with a nod. "Let's go."

The trip back to Colorado was even more agonizing than the trip to Nevada had been, though Daniel had thought that couldn't be possible. He gave Janet medicine to bring down her fever, but he didn't want to give her the folleris root until they were safely back at the SGC. He just hoped that by doing so, he wasn't leaving it until it was too late. She didn't even wake up once between Area 51 and the SGC. Daniel wasn't a doctor, but even he could tell that she wasn't just sleeping this time.

His suspicions were confirmed when they finally arrived at the SGC infirmary. "She's in a coma," Dr. Brightman announced.

"But... she can still have the medicine, right?" Daniel asked desperately.

Brightman nodded. "I'm sure I can give it to her intravenously," she said.

Daniel sagged in relief. "She's gonna be okay," he whispered, more to himself than to anyone else. "She's gonna be okay."

He sat by the little girl's side as the folleris root was administered, and then settled in for a long wait.

To be continued...


	8. Chapter 8

**Reversals - Chapter 8**

Daniel tiptoed into the infirmary and sat down by Janet's bed, as he'd done a hundred times since she'd been brought back to the SGC three days earlier. She hadn't woken up from her coma yet, but he knew that she would any time now. He hated it when he was forced to leave the infirmary for a meal or a nap or something, because he always feared that she would choose exactly that moment to finally come around.

So far, though, she hadn't. She just lay there slowly changing, growing older bit by bit. He was almost glad that she wasn't aware of what was happening. He couldn't imagine how strange or even painful it would be to age so rapidly.

Over the last few hours, though, the changes had slowed to a halt. She was really Janet now - the Janet he knew and loved. He couldn't wait to see her beautiful eyes open and look at him again.

As he sat there lost in thought, he took her hand and started tracing the lines of her veins with his thumb. It was strange to think that they were the same hands that had clung to his shirt just days earlier. They had been so small and frail then, but now they were bigger and stronger again. These were the hands that had nursed him back to health on so many occasions. He was so glad to see that they were finally back to normal.

He let out a heavy sigh as he enveloped her hand with his own. He wished everything would return to normal. He needed her so badly, and having her here but totally unaware of her surroundings was absolute agony.

"Penny for your thoughts."

Daniel looked up in surprise to see those familiar brown eyes staring back at him. "Hey," he said, smiling and squeezing her hand. "You're finally awake."

Janet smiled back. "How long have you been sitting there?"

Daniel could feel his face heat up as he tried to think of a way to answer this question without seeming too forward. She might not remember the events of the past few days, after all, so she might not understand the reason behind his attentions. "Um... three days... on and off," he finally answered.

Janet's mouth fell open in surprise.

"Do you feel okay?" Daniel asked in concern, mostly to change the subject. "I should call Dr. Brightman." He went to get up, but Janet gripped his hand even tighter.

"No... stay."

"Okay." He slowly settled back into his chair and gave her an awkward smile.

"I... I know what happened, Daniel."

"Oh." So she did remember. He wasn't sure whether that was a good thing or a bad thing. "What exactly do you remember?"

She looked thoughtful for a moment, and her eyes were so full of pain that it made Daniel's heart ache. "It's all kind of fuzzy," she said. "I remember... being so small and so frightened... feeling so helpless."

Daniel reached out to stroke her hair as she spoke. He felt he had to do something to comfort her, no matter how small.

She looked up at him and smiled softly. "And I remember you," she went on. "I remember... I sensed something in you that I didn't sense in anyone else. I trusted you. I felt safe with you." She paused and then added, "I think... I think I've always felt that way around you."

"Really?"

Janet nodded. "You wouldn't believe how much better I felt when you were with me. I was so scared at times, but as soon as you would pick me up and hold me..." She suddenly seemed to realize what she was saying, and she blushed and looked away.

The silence that followed wasn't exactly comfortable, so Daniel cleared his throat and reached down under his chair. "Here, I have something for you," he said. He picked up the item that he'd placed there ready for her waking up, and presented it to her with a grin.

"Mush!" Janet grinned back as she took the bear from Daniel's hand. "I thought I'd lost him! Where did you find him?"

"Dr. Brightman found him here in the infirmary. You... must have dropped him when you were... taken away." He swallowed hard, those words not coming easy for him even now.

Janet hugged the bear to her neck and gave Daniel a wobbly smile. "Thank you, Daniel."

"No problem," he said. "I just wish I'd noticed you didn't have him. I wanted you to take him with you..."

"I mean for everything," she interrupted. "For... taking care of me."

Daniel looked down at their intertwined hands, embarrassed. "It was the least I could do," he said. "You were a scared little kid."

"I know there was more to it than that."

Daniel looked up at her again, feeling inexplicably nervous about what she may have remembered that had drawn her to that conclusion. Before he could ask what she meant, however, Dr. Brightman walked in.

"Ah, I see our patient has finally returned to the land of the conscious," she said with a smile. "It's good to see you looking so well, Janet."

Daniel let go of Janet's hand and hopped to his feet. "I'll go wait outside while you check her over," he said, trying not to seem too desperate to get away. "I'll see you later, Janet."

"Okay."

He hurried out of the room without another word, even though the disappointment in Janet's voice made him feel like an absolute jerk for doing so. He just hadn't quite come to terms with his feelings for Janet yet, and to have her seemingly pick up on them so easily was too much.

As much as he hated himself for it, Daniel avoided the infirmary for the next few hours, allowing Jack, Sam, Teal'c, and General Hammond to visit with her in peace. He placed a quick call to Cassie, who had been given a somewhat vague explanation for her mother's absence already, and then took to pacing his office while he tried to figure out what he should do. Should he come right out and tell her how he felt? Should he wait for her to bring the subject up again? What if she did know what was going on inside his heart and felt disgusted by it? What if she'd only wanted him as a friend, and now that he wanted more she was going to push him away?

Why did it all have to be so complicated?

His internal debate was soon interrupted by a soft tap on his office door. "Daniel?"

"Hey, Sam," he greeted the woman standing in the doorway. "How's she doing?"

"Very well, all things considered," Sam said. "She's been asking for you, though."

"Thanks. I uh... I guess I should get back down there, then."

If Sam was concerned or curious about his behaviour, she thankfully didn't show it. She merely stepped aside as Daniel exited his office, and didn't say another word.

When he entered Janet's room, she was lying there with her eyes closed looking so peaceful and beautiful that it took his breath away for a second. Once he regained control of himself, he stepped inside and moved towards the bed.

Janet opened her eyes and turned to beam a smile at him. "There you are. Where have you been?"

"I... was around," he said, suddenly feeling as awkward as a teenager. "H... how are you feeling?"

"Much better," she said. She patted the edge of the bed and gestured for him to come and sit down.

Daniel couldn't believe how much different it felt to be sitting on the edge of grown-up Janet's bed as opposed to little-girl Janet's, but he forced a smile as he perched himself beside her.

"Sam told me about how guilty you've been feeling... about the accident," she said, studying his face closely for his reaction.

Daniel nodded. "It was my stupid mistake that almost cost you your life," he said. "How could I not feel guilty?"

"Yet it was also you that saved me."

He looked down at his hands and didn't answer. This wasn't the time nor the place to argue about who had done what.

"You really don't see it that way, do you?"

He snapped his head up to look at her in surprise. How had she known exactly what he was thinking? "I... no, I don't," he said. "It was Ambrocio who saved you, not me."

"You were the one who found him, weren't you?"

He shrugged and tilted his head from side to side. "I guess so."

"Daniel..." She took his hand and squeezed it. "If there's one thing I remember about the last few days, it's that I would have died if it weren't for you. Not just that you brought back the folleris root, either... it was long before that. I was so frightened, but you made me feel safe. I felt so ill at times, but you made me feel better. You more than made up for your one little mistake, so don't you dare think otherwise."

Tears filled Daniel's eyes at her earnestness. "Thank you."

She smiled and gave his hand another squeeze.

When he realized he was openly staring at her, Daniel cleared his throat and stood up. "Well, I'd uh... I'd better go, let you get some rest," he said, taking a step away from the bed.

Janet didn't let go of his hand, however. "Wait," she said.

Daniel stopped and looked down at her questioningly.

"Could I... this is going to sound silly, but... could I have just... one more hug?"

Daniel's heart melted when he saw the same look of pleading in her eyes that young Janet had given him so many times. He was suddenly overwhelmed by compassion and sympathy for all she had been through, and he sank back onto the bed and wrapped his arms around her.

Janet leaned into the embrace, resting her head against his shoulder and breathing a contented sigh as Daniel automatically took to stroking her hair. The whole thing just felt so comfortable and so right.

"Daniel loves me," Janet said after a minute or two of silence.

His hand stilled as he heard these words, his mind whirling with questions and memories of the past few days. She remembered... she remembered it all. He knew that now beyond the shadow of a doubt. She did know that he'd come to care for her as more than just a friend, and from the way she was hugging him now, it seemed that she didn't mind a bit.

Daniel smiled and placed a tender kiss on her ear. To think it could all be summed up in three little words... but now he had three of his own to add.

"Yes, he does."

THE END


End file.
